Knowledge & Expression

A question was posed to me recently, and I answered what I thought was a good answer, but the substance of it began to fester. The question was, "Which do you think is life's ultimate pursuit: knowledge, or expression?" I ignored the fact that my options were so strictly limited in this sort of black and white sense, and thought about it for a while.

I answered, both, but my answer was not a product of indecision. I couldn't decide between knowledge or expression for the simple reason that they are linked in principle. It's knowing what to say and how to say it. The who, where, when questions add personality, reason, and objective to what we say and are made significant by how we say it.

The interconnection between knowledge and expression is particularly telling in writing. A writer's quest to find their own "voice" is a combination of knowledge acquired and expression learned. To stand out in a world filled with writers takes various paths of self-exploration, experimentation, if you like, and practice to find the modes of expression that does justice to an individuals experience with the world.

In this sense, the more you find out about yourself - the thoughts you're willing to write down, the areas of society you're willing to explore - the more knowledge you acquire. Taking the time to think about them and allowing for the time to practice writing allows a writer to access their truest voice, or style of expression.