The Great Word Limit: A Post From the Other Side of Thirty-Something (and Diapers)
In hindsight, from this place on the verge of 40, with a couple little ones surrounding me who require my every moment and word, I can promise you this: we chatter too much.
Philosophy
The Great Word Limit: A Post From the Other Side of Thirty-Something (and Diapers)
By MoAfrika Skotch Ntilane — 22 May 2025
Come on, friend. In hindsight, from this place on the verge of 40, with a couple little ones surrounding me who require my every moment and word, I can promise you this: we chatter too much. Like, for real, too much. It's not the youthfulness of it, it's the sheer, uncensored quantity of words we spew out on a daily basis, typically about nothing whatsoever of significance.
The Great Purge of Pointless Prose
But what if, just imagine, one day we woke up and found out there was a word limit... 1000 words. That's your daily allowance, no top-ups, no dipping into tomorrow. Imagine the beautiful, eerie silence. Meetings would transform from rambling, multi-hour sagas into tight, mean, laser-like conversation.
The Silent Revolution
We’d start noticing subtler things: the tilt of a partner’s eyebrow, the shift in posture when someone is weary, the quick flicker of a child's emotions before they speak. Words, suddenly, would be a luxury, not a crutch. We'd learn to act, to observe, to witness. We'd learn to speak with intention, to let silence carry the weight of meaning.
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