who would understand the thing you can’t explain?
there is something you carry that does not translate well. you have tried to explain it and watched it land wrong, or land nowhere at all. but maybe there is someone who would just know.
every day there's one live question, the same for everyone. answer it anonymously, see what other people said. it's all gone in seven days.
answer today's question →start by writing a few sentences about the thing itself. the thing that resists being explained. don't worry about making it clear. just put it on the page in whatever shape it comes. then write the name of a person, real or imagined, living or gone, who you think might understand it without you having to get the words right. it could be someone you have never spoken to about it. it could be someone you have lost. write about what it is in them that would make understanding possible. is it shared experience, or something quieter than that? let yourself sit with the relief of being known, even on paper.
- write about the last time you tried to explain this thing and felt the gap between what you meant and what landed.
- think of someone who has been through something parallel, not identical, and write about what their knowing might feel like.
- consider whether the person who would understand it most is a version of yourself from a different time.
this is for anyone who has felt the loneliness of carrying something that doesn't fit neatly into language. for those who have stopped trying to explain and started just holding it alone.