Take Two . . .
I’ve been playing around with the word “react” the past couple of days. I now think of it as two words “re” and “act.”
“Take Two” is a familiar term on the set of a film or video production. That means to re-act the scene.
Another part of my musing on the word “react” is this: Reactions come as quick as lightning. Think of the last time you were surprised by seeing a spider. “Eek!”
Your lizard brain popped out a reaction and you did the same thing you did the time before. That’s an unhyphenated reaction.
When we break the word in two, we get two separate words – “re” and “act.” Think of “re” as rewind. We rewind the video and are about to play the scene over again. “Act” means to take action.
What would happen if between “re” and “act” we took a little pause to consider our action. We then would have the option to play out the scene differently.
Rather than re-act the scene, we give it a new dimension by pausing. That’s what the hyphen represents – a pause in the action.
Now this probably won’t work with my spider example because the reaction is so instant, but what about most other situations where you get an opportunity to employ the dash? Do you have a very familiar, stale, repeating back and forth with someone – a boss, an employee, a parent, child, lover, friend or ex? You know where the conversation will go before it goes there. That’s the time for the dash.
Re-acting a scene takes you nowhere new. When you sense your reaction to a stimulus before you act, you have a dashing opportunity to move out of predictability and create a whole new scene.
The next time you get a chance for a second take, take the opportunity to use the dash and let Take Two work for you.
All the best,
John
Be Sociable, Share!
