The Deep End

I’m Just Sayin’ 11

Much of what we think and much of what we say is dictated by what we feel, but, I’m just sayin’, there is a difference between thinking and feeling.

This is a an accurate use of the word “feel:”
“I feel cold.”
“Me, too, let’s put on our jackets.”

This is not:
“I feel like we sent those client letters out last week.”

No. No, you don’t “feel” like it. You may think it. You may even remember doing it, or you may not be sure, but you don’t “feel” like it.

The “like” of ten years ago – “I’m going to, like, scream. We’ve been waiting, like, all day” – is the “feeling” of today. “I feel like I’m going to scream because I feel like we’ve been waiting here all day.”

It’s annoying, yes, but, I’m just sayin’, it is a speech habit that has also pervaded our thinking, and it’s starting to be taken literally. I’m convinced it’s either part of the reason – or a symptom of – the perceived superiority of feelings over reality in our culture. So, we have boys who “feel” like they belong in the girls’ restroom. We have perverts who justify their sin by saying, “It can’t be wrong if it’s really how I feel.”

If you need to express your feelings, go for it. But, I’m just sayin’, you need to differentiate those feelings from your fact-based opinions, and, certainly, from objective reality.