Expressing Yourself

It may have started with Madonna expressing herself in the 80’s. Then web 2.0 really picked up the pace. Now, even middle school yearbook photos are now all about “expressing yourself” with “popular choices” including Photoshop acne removal.

But as Paul Simon sings, “I’m tired, tired–anyone care what I say? No.”

David Lyons recently wrote in Newsweek that Twitter–“the microblogging site that lets you broadcast 140-character messages to anyone who chooses to become your ‘follower'”–has succeeded not in spite of but precisely because of its stupidity: “One recent study concluded that 40 percent of the messages are ‘pointless babble.'”

And there’s blogging, too, of course, which has brought many wonders of my world to light, so I won’t complain one bit about it.

In this climate, then, it’s a relief that N has already learned to express herself in down-to-earth, effectively meaningful ways. Remember Maizee, that lovable dog that followed us home once (well, more than once)? Last week she showed up by our side as we took another walk. Immediately, N, perched there in her backpack, said, “Beat it! Go!”

And Maizee went.