The Ownership of Meaning

Trey Smith

Anytime one of us writes something in the public square -- book, song, poem, article, blog post, etc. -- it is not uncommon that we delude ourselves into thinking that we command ownership of meaning. To be certain, in most cases, we write or say our words with an intent. There is a meaning we are trying to share with others.

But here's the thing. Once the words leave our head and are shared in a spoken or written form, the SOLE meaning we have ANY ownership of is strictly our own. For the most part, we have neither the ability nor the power to compel others to embrace the same meaning for our words and thoughts.

I say, for the most part, because there are times in which certain individuals or organizations do possess the power to compel others to accept very precise meanings. The government, for example, tends to have the wherewithal to force us to accede to the meanings they proffer. We certainly do not have to agree with these meanings, but we must abide by them, nonetheless.

If someone puts a gun to my head, threatens my liberty or has the power to withhold something I need, I may tell them I accept their meaning, but that doesn't mean I truly do. I merely am doing what is needed for the situation to evade pain, discomfort, inconvenience or imminent death.

Except for these rare instances, real meaning is a personal thing. It is based upon our own unique experiences, observations and thought processes. It is something that is intimately personal for each of us.

I try to keep this in mind whenever I peck out one of these blog entries. In almost every case, there is a particular meaning I am attempting to convey to you, our readers. I have a point of view and I am undertaking the effort to share my own unique perspective. But once the words are placed in this space, I no longer control their meaning. How each of you interprets and understands the words I utilize will be different in small or large degrees.

If you simply read my written thoughts without a response, I have no way of knowing if you got my gist or not. Sometimes, a comment is left on a post which conveys an idea that I believe is foreign to my intent. There are times that I will point this out in the form of a response; I seek to defend my misplaced ownership of meaning.

More often than not, I resist the temptation to correct what I might believe is the wrong meaning that you have taken from the post in question. I resist because I have reminded myself that the only meaning I own is mine. What you take from the post is what you take from the post. It's not my job or right to tell you what you can and cannot take from it.

Of course, this is a two-way street. Just as I do not possess general ownership of the meaning of what I write, neither do you. ;-)