Words and Memes
My friend Marissa has a wonderful blog, Daily Struggles with Inanimate Objects, wherein her latest entry announces her theme words for 2009: abundance + heart.
I love the idea of having theme words. Actually, I just love words. Think for a minute how delicious they are. I love to roll them around in my mouth and chew on them and relish them and pay attention to each subtle nuance. I love how they change depending on their context, how they catch the light differently depending on who is using them.
Maybe for my birthday this year I'll ask everyone to give me a word. Doesn't that sound lovely? Yum! Or maybe even a meme. A meme for my birthday would totally rock.
According to meme">Merriam-Webster, a meme is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." I love the idea of an idea spreading from person to person, creating a collective repository of meaning as it goes.
Of course, the outcome of a meme is entirely dependent on what meme we're talking about. Great damage has been wrought by destructive ideas (laissez-faire capitalism and the "free" market leap to mind). But great ideas can have equally if not more profound effects (think: abolition and the civil rights movement). Picture gangs of ideas rampaging through human minds, building momentum and understanding and insight, leaving community, solidarity, and empathy in their wake.
So the thing about memes is that they require cultivation and nurturing in order to grow and gather strength and momentum. The question, then, is this: Which memes will I assist in their journey from mind to mind? Which ones will I attempt to stop in their tracks?
Update: I didn't realize that it was actually
danceswithfat who in her post Meme Goodness got me thinking about memes. Many thanks to you, dances!
I love the idea of having theme words. Actually, I just love words. Think for a minute how delicious they are. I love to roll them around in my mouth and chew on them and relish them and pay attention to each subtle nuance. I love how they change depending on their context, how they catch the light differently depending on who is using them.
Maybe for my birthday this year I'll ask everyone to give me a word. Doesn't that sound lovely? Yum! Or maybe even a meme. A meme for my birthday would totally rock.
According to meme">Merriam-Webster, a meme is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." I love the idea of an idea spreading from person to person, creating a collective repository of meaning as it goes.
Of course, the outcome of a meme is entirely dependent on what meme we're talking about. Great damage has been wrought by destructive ideas (laissez-faire capitalism and the "free" market leap to mind). But great ideas can have equally if not more profound effects (think: abolition and the civil rights movement). Picture gangs of ideas rampaging through human minds, building momentum and understanding and insight, leaving community, solidarity, and empathy in their wake.
So the thing about memes is that they require cultivation and nurturing in order to grow and gather strength and momentum. The question, then, is this: Which memes will I assist in their journey from mind to mind? Which ones will I attempt to stop in their tracks?
Update: I didn't realize that it was actually
danceswithfat who in her post Meme Goodness got me thinking about memes. Many thanks to you, dances!