How the Power of the Pause Helped Me Change My Mind
A few weeks ago, I blogged about the lost art of listening, specifically about the power of the pause, and its ability to create better conversations.
While my original intention was to encourage better connections with people, I found myself embracing the pause in a different way.
The power of the pause helped me change my mind.
Up until very recently, I have held opinions on writing and grammar that can at best be described as “strident,” and at worst, “unyielding.”
My hallmark opinion is my rabid defense of using two spaces after a period. I went so far as to record a Facebook video chastising any and all One Spacers, denouncing their typographical choice in favor of what I felt was better readability by applying two spaces after a period.
Well, after hitting pause for a bit, I changed my mind.
I’m joining Team Single Space.
Here’s what happened:
First of all, I decided that as a writer who partners with many graphics people in creating content for clients, my insistence on double space following a period created work for my collaborators, and that felt like diva behavior.
I may be a robust personality, but I am not a diva, and I value my partnerships too much to create unnecessary work.
The second reason was that I began to see what all the fuss was about. I came to the realization that probably most books and blogs I’ve been reading employ the Single Space, and lo and behold, I began to see how it looked better!
By now, my design and graphics friends are doubled over laughing because while I can spot a missing Oxford Comma from a mile away, I am not known for my artistic contributions in marketing design (my mantras “Canva Makes Me Cry” and “Pinterest is Worse Than Michael’s Craft Store…Get Me Out Of Here!” apply here). So this change probably feels like a tiny bit of progress, with a side of irony.
What’s important here is that I took new information in, thought about it, and decided it was (in the words of the inimitable Brene Brown) better to get it right than be right.