The Rest is Still Being Written

            When we think of our lives, we don’t necessarily think of them in terms of writing or being written (or even rewritten). However, after reading chapter 3, I think Tilly Warnock is exactly right. The main point of her essay is that our lives our constantly being written and rewritten. Our previous experiences, our families, friends, and people, have helped in writing the very person we are, but we are also constantly in control of how our lives turn out. “We write our lives, and our lives rewrite us.” (34).

            One of the most provocative parts of her essay for me was when she was talking about the power of language and the way we use it. “…words entitle and say ‘let there be’ and ‘let there no longer be.’” (48). It really only hit me then how significant language can be in placing the power in us to choose what and how we write. What will we go back and change? What will we continue to change as we grow?

            During this piece, my mind kept flashing to Natasha Bedingfield’s song, Unwritten, which begins:

“I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined.

I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.”

           

This kind of treads back to the idea that our life is constantly being written and rewritten. We have no idea where it’s going to end up, where we are going to end up, but there is always this possibility for change, for revision.

I hope in class we can further discuss this idea of revision because it was what was most unclear to me in her whole conversation of rhetoric. I think I have some idea of what she meant, but I was just a bit confused.

I think our class discussion should focus on trying to break her piece up into parts as she had with the sections. It was very dense at times and hard to follow when she brought in her many personal accounts (never not once interesting though). Just further exploring her main theme of “writing and living” how we are constantly in charge of writing and rewriting our lives.