interesting

the word interesting can mean anything from stupid to cool to weird to indescribable. it's a word people use when they don't know what else to say. your most basic all-purpose adjective, ambiguous but not outright insulting.

why then is it my favourite?

the root, interest. also an ambiguous word (most words are, in one way or another). the extra pennies you get on your bank account or the sparks in your brain that get your attention. what is that? i don't know. what edge creates those sparks? where do those extra pennies come from? they're just extra. inexplicable, maybe. just one of those weird human things...

anyway, interesting is one of the highest compliments I can give. if it generates interest, it's got that something... whatever that is. interest is one thing you can't buy, you can't cheat or fake it. it's not even something you really have, it's an element of your relationship to the world. just the right edge, between you and whoever is looking.

of course there's always someone watching, right? even if it's just yourself.

interested in yourself? i hope so. yeah, it sounds weird. but i guess you just have to shake off all the connotation for a minute and think base root interest. no promises, no expectations, no questions, no nothing, just a fundamental gravity. everything else comes after.

the other day somebody told me I was a very interesting person.
there are a billion ways I could take that. interesting confusing? interesting odd? interesting... intriguing? interesting attractive? interesting complicated? what?
but i'm not going to worry about it. interest is a good thing.