The Punctuation of Life

A friend's lamenting over the abuse of comma splices (guilty as charged) got me thinking about, of all things, punctuation. More specifically, the punctuation of life.

I'm a big fan of the comma. There's just something about continuing a thought without the interruption of a pesky period or semicolon. I consider them to be a more smooth transition than other punctuation options.

While this may not mean very much in terms of my style of writing, I've discovered this truth can mean a great deal outside of the grammatical implications.

In my life, I like to use "commas" and elipses (...) to continue a thought without completely ending it, to lead into the next thought on the page. This has led to too many run on sentences in my life, situations and relationships that I've continued through the use of "soft punctuation," rather than having the guts to put a period at the end of the situation/relationship.

I guess part of this stems from my desire for a happy ending, a desire for the plot twist in the fourth act. I just can't stand to end something, just in case...

But maybe putting a period at the end of one thought (or situation or relationship or what have you) is the only way for the story to go where it's supposed to. Maybe it takes a period, a hard stop, for another potentially life-altering thought to get the attention it deserves.

I think I'll give periods a try this year.