(Word) Nerd- "Suspend Your Disbelief"

Part of what makes poetry so fascinating for me is word choice. It's not even simply choosing the right word for what I want to express but the attempt to use words that will convey meaning and even mood to the reader or listener.

Context is a big key. For instance, the context of the word "WHO" makes the difference between whether I'm talking about a certain time traveling alien in a blue box, a race of dust speck residents, or the spread of a new international plague.

Then there's phonology, the sound of the word. "Cellar door" makes a lot of linguists drool (especially those named Frank) based on some sort of inherent musicality.

I believe there's something to the presentation of the word however, which can cancel out, intensify, or reshape the entire perception of a word.

My reason for feeling this is one particular phrase: "Suspend your disbelief".

You see, the first time I saw Star Wars was when it was re-released (with special edition features) for movie theatres in 1997. I might be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that night was the first time I was introduced to the term "suspension of disbelief" in a conversation with my dad about science fiction/fantasy stories. I was a strange kid.

Maybe my mind was in an epic adventure kind of headspace because of having just watched the Death Star explode [context]. Maybe it's the way that "suspend" sounds kind of like super bend to a six year old, especially when combined with the mystical word "disbelief" [phonology]. I had after all just been introduced to the Force.

These two linguistical allies came together like Han and Chewie to scoundrel me into thinking "suspend your disbelief" meant something along the lines of morphing my perception into something magical.

The great thing was that this isn't completely wrong. Sure, suspend in the way my dad was probably reffering to in using this phrase is more like being suspended from play in a game or getting a suspension in school. I should set aside skepticism and enjoy the ride (and I'm glad I did because 1-Star Wars and 2- I was six).

However, what fascinates me is that I got by for so long knowing full well what all the words in the phrase meant and, using such simple logic, the true meaning of that phrase, but the mystic idea of my belief hanging out in some higher plane of existence being reformed into some wondrous new consciousness stuck with me pretty much till fifteen minutes ago. (Okay, it's still kinda there). Maybe it's my love of story, especially story of the fantastic variety, but as much as I'm all for using logic and deduction to dig the answers from the depths of the universe, it is always the exploration of the mysterious which most inspires me.

Rod Serling wasn't just saying be less critical. "Just have fun and watch the bookworm drop his glasses, kids." He was inviting us enter into a realm where words are more than their assigned meaning, when the sound and placement of a combination of letters surprises us by not only hitting us where we think but also where we feel.

And that's why poetry is like...

Petrichor.

p.s.-check out my sister's awesome Mongolian Adventures!