The word “yet”. It’s a word that can give you hope or it’s a word that can haunt you. It triggers a lot to mind. Namely stuff that pertains to the future but also sometimes stuff that refuses to leave the past. I like the word “yet”. It’s a flirty word – it’s saying something but you don’t know exactly what it is. It lures you out of any chaos or sanctuary because you cannot deny the truth of its essence: yet. Yet will always be.
What do I wish to do this word? Use it propose some grand humanitarian dream of world peace by stating “it’s not that it’s impossible, it’s just yet to come.” That word will lose all meaning then because no one will believe it. Hmm, that’s interesting. The word “yet” can lose all of its meaning depending on the truth value of its context. Well, no duh. The truth value of a proposition differs from person to person but too often a word such as this is left behind as unnecessary baggage.
I don’t want to focus on that though. I want to examine the word “yet” as it stands alone, given that it’s worthy of standing by itself. The origins of the word are unknown to me and irrelevant to my focus. Instead I’d like to posit the idea that “yet” reaffirms what we all tend to forget nearly every day, which is our own agency. It’s easy to fall into a lifestyle, an identity, an imaginary grounding of sorts where time passes and we aren’t dumbfounded by questions such as, “what is this?”, “why am I here?”, etc.
All the existential questions that tend to only lead you in one direction: circularity. To discover you must return back to where you started from, hence the never-ending frustration that accumulates with questions like these. Some people have managed to find ways to bypass them and lead quite happy successful lives. The word “yet” I feel brings you back to that circle. In order to escape the circle you desperately look around, searching to find some other word to jump onto. But when it’s just you and “yet” alone, you’ve only got one weapon that’ll enable you to step out of the circularity. Specifically that you acknowledge and welcome the existence of the word “yet”. Pay the word its dues. Show some respect. It only looms when you crouch before it in fear. If you stand up straight and bid it a sincere acknowledgement, you’ve won.
Ok – this sounds like a poorly drawn out metaphor between a human being and the word “yet”. The picture may strike as odd but it’s really not that difficult. Despite all the fancy weapons we have to defend ourselves, these weapons don’t stand a chance against our deeper fears. The word “yet” embodies a whole train of thought that most people stand by and watch as it disappears into no-man’s land. They believe they’ve outsmarted the villain. No-man’s land is treacherous territory – no way will that sucker return!
That’s a cheap battle though. If one takes a look around at all the great monumental structures, both physical and non-physical (i.e. the construct of society, culture, etc), that human minds have created – can we really do no better than trick ourselves into victory by avoiding the so-called enemy? It feels rather silly to me. Not because it hits at some human pride about how great our species are. Rather the battle is only prolonged and assumes a never-ending status. It gains endless ammunition through our own inability realize the different tools we have at our disposal if we chose to think differently. A word’s but a word – sure you may say that. Change your interpretation of the word “yet” if it carries a negative connotation and you’re set. But to recycle meanings that rely on validation from others and not from the discovery itself leaves you with a very limited stock I find.
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