Expansion Joints

Expansion Joints

 

I have no intention of getting all technical on you this morning.  But need to tell you that this blog will not really be about expansion joints, unless of course you can put yourself in my place and share a part of my mindset, that is a little different.  Needed a title for this blog, and went with what first came to mind.  Occurs to me that this is mostly a single affair, blogging on Blogger, where readership or membership is international and it doesn’t hurt to expand one’s level of interest and take in words and music and life with maybe a different take on things as we know it.  Having said that, let me say:  “…. This is not switch and bait conversation and blogging, in the traditional sense of things.” 

So that is my alert for now, that this is not what it seems, if you see the title, and want to come and read about nuts and bolts and mechanical science.  That is my disclaimer, but even so I have a penchant for talking about multiple subjects at the same time.  And so we begin.  I will try to keep it short.

 

Expansion joint and the translation software and program tells me this:  Expansion Joint is a joint that makes allowance for thermal expansion of the parts jointed without distortion.

Formally or officially or following a script, the sensible thing to do is make this blog all about that which interests you, as you are investing time in reading a blog that seems to be going in the direction of the expansion joint.  Having said that,  I will save time and see if I can expand on the subject and at the same time, satisfy my own needs.

 

Woke up this morning and had this question firmly planted in my consciousness.  But didn’t know how to share this personal moment with others, without possibly entering into argument and misunderstanding and conflict.  Even so,  the idea I woke with did not go away.  It seems I woke, asking myself, “When is it proper that your significant other is not your spouse, or lover or intimate relationship in your life?”  Simple and I should not have the need to be complicated, or complicate the situation.  Not here to start a fight, or argue about the title of this blog or that my significant other requires an arrangement that might not even include you.

 

Significant Other in the way I intend to express it in today’s blog, has to do with needing something greater than you.  Okay now I have said it.  Let me go the expansion joint route, and allow for your reaction to all of this.  Do this knowing   things will heat up, when I say, “….. my significant other is not you.”  The silence and the deadly stare adds to the discomfort that starts building as a tension and pressure that must be accounted for gains space in this conversation.

 

It is an awkward moment when he confesses.  “I am in love with words.”  For me, that is the significant other that resides with me.  The echo comes and leaves a vibration around me that suggests,  this will be okay.  Expansion joint and it does its job.  It leaves me whole in the moment and things come together in a minor form of agreement or understanding.  She doesn’t really agree, but has a sense of what he is saying.  He loves words.”  And he wants everybody to know.  He is not ashamed.  He loves words.

 

Simple it is.  The joint is but a simple device for handling this situation.  He allows it to do its job.  It calms his mind and allows him to write and express himself.  For a while now, this has become an issue.  For various reasons, he just stopped writing.  Some might say, “Writer’s Block.”  But it was more than that.  Things around him changed.  He wanted to write, but did not want to share the intimate details about his personal life.  He wanted the blog site to be a fantasy or free zone where he could write, but did not have to explain or over justify the obvious contradictions that come with posting a private journal in public space.  He didn’t want, nor did he seek a facebook experience.  He wanted to blog. 

 

And have it be a place where he could reinvent himself, talk about things that were on the list in his home or office, that were improper to bring up in proper conversation.  So over time he felt it happening.  Silence.  Depression.  A chasm between what he wanted to say, and what others, even his significant other, would allow.  You might say the expansion joint became an expansion loop and some way or another,  it was not serving its purpose.

 

Lost in space and feeling displaced.  The old blog site just become inoperable.  People left and he was left talking to himself and strangers.  It was a disappointment and a let-down.  Nobody in the old crowd was there to laugh at his words and folly.  Nobody came around to say, “….don’t worry about it.  Its only human to have these things on your mind and in your world. Its okay.”    And in many ways , without expressing the frustrations in life and without connection to others, that have experienced the things you have, it is as if you find yourself in strange circumstances and mental space, and that it grows to the point that in your life there is now distortion and dissidence

“Oh no.”  He said.  “I don’t want that.”

 

And so it has been a while since it felt right to blog.  Missed the old crowd and didn’t know what to do.  Didn’t know how to show up in a new place and just tell things as he needed to.  Then this morning he decided he would experiment in double speak.  Join the different aspects and sections of his life in one blog, and sentence and moment.  Expansion Joint.  Significant Other.  Word Lover.  Marijuana and the Calming Effect.  Construct a viable space and place where he could use the proper materials and setup and layout, to deal with the contraction that comes with pulling back, or letting go, or pushing out with all the things you have come to love. 

And so it is he has reached the settlement point today.  Has a sense of personal responsibility and control as he seeks resolution.  Grounded now and firm in his conviction and understanding of his position in the present moment.  He lets it be known.

“I am a lover of words. “   This is my significant other.   “Is there a problem?”