Essentially, the other me is an all-knowing goddess. Yes, with a lowercase “g.” Kind of like how Batman is a superhero, but his superpowers are having lots of money and cool, high tech gadgets. Well, my cool gadgets are books. As a matter of fact, I read a wide variety of things and feel a little anxious when I don’t have time to get a daily dose of everything in my reading pile, which I’ve started limiting to four to six things since reading merely three different things seems too sparse and more than six, unrealistic except on the weekends.
Whereas Bruce Wayne lives in a bat cave, I live in a creative cave. Full of books and reliable high-speed internet because whichever project I’m working on, I want to know as much as possible about that subject to move forward with my project.
The difference between being an all-knowing goddess and a bookworm or nerd is in the attitude. You have to have confidence when you’re a goddess. And being an all-knowing goddess isn’t the same as being a know-it-all. If I knew everything, I’d be a goddess with a capital “G” or a teenager. I remember knowing EVERYTHING when I was 17, not being the least bit aware of the things I didn’t know.
As a seasoned all-knowing goddess, I embrace the fact that I cannot possibly know EVERYTHING, but I can access up to the limits of public knowledge. I fiercely and boldly wield this superpower. Besides, I don’t need to know it all to be successful, especially now that facts come in a variety of alternative forms and words may or may not retain their meaning, depending on how much political clout you have and how much money there is to be made in the ensuing confusion. Who could have predicted years ago when spelling was de-emphasized in school that we’d come to point where the meaning of words would also be de-emphasized?
I don’t claim to be a clairvoyant goddess, but I predict that if the integrity of the meaning of words disappears, then my archenemy, Ignorance, prevails. Once we stop respecting the meaning of words, Ignorance will no longer have to ban or burn books. We’ll do that ourselves.
For me, reading continues to be a revolutionary act. Imagine my slave ancestors who weren’t legally allowed to learn how to read. Then my relatives who lived during segregated/Jim Crow America where they didn’t have access to certain books in their section of the library and were educated with outdated, dilapidated and often egregiously biased textbooks. Now the very words we read, write and speak are under assault. Ignorance has moved beyond trying to block access to literacy and books, finding it more efficient to attack semantics.
Just like when millions of Americans protested when the word “freedom” was being erroneously used to describe “not having federally-subsidized health insurance,” we must guard against the twisting of words, especially when there are so many ways words are disseminated from the Tower of Babel to confuse the masses. If they ever manage to coordinate their splintered narratives through their verbal sleight of hand, then I will have to increase my reading intake to build up my superpower of knowledge, especially building my vocabulary.
Regardless of whether you see yourself as an all-knowing god or not, empower yourself with the true meaning of words. Read from a variety of sources. Gather firsthand experiences of the power of words. Enrich your vocabulary. Articulate your own personal narrative. Defeat Ignorance.