I have become infatuated with trans- words. They have long been a part of my vocabulary, but now they are all the rage in my thoughts and for the first time in my writing. Yes, in case you are wondering, this is in part inspired by current events that have highlighted the ubiquitous nature of trans- words and trans- concepts. For instance, trans fats are about to become illegal in food here in the good ole USA. This is a good thing, I think. And then there are all those other trans- words screaming in your mind right now because we have heard then ad nauseum. Well, don't get nervous, I'm not about to barf or go political here because I never do. Barf. What I am going to do is discuss the trans- phenomena and introduce some new words that I coined all by myself.
First, however, let me take you all the way back to my youth to when I first became interested in trans- words. I was eleven, or was it twelve? and I had a job mowing lawns in the neighborhood. I was prosperous enough to walk to Gibson's, a mere half mile away, and slap down twenty bucks for a little black box that produced sound if I put in batteries and twisted on a couple of knobs. Only yesterday I looked up the trans- word. This is what I found.
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductormaterial with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. (Wikipedia)
Get that? Me neither. But what I did get that day at Gibson's was a transistor radio. It played music. Or it transmitted music (see what I did there?) that someone else far away played. Oh, the joys of trans was just beginning.
In those days we had what was called transport trucks that roared up and down the highways and filled young boys with the dreams of adventure on the road. They were a lot like the eighteen-wheelers we have today, but I have lived long enough in a society that is transmogrifying (see what I did there?) to know that periodically terms for the same thing, group, or object change, and if you keep using the old term, you become an -ist and the price you pay for being an -ist is steep and terrifying. Besides all that, men who drive transport trucks-- I mean eighteen-wheelers-- usually have tattoos and big arms. I don't want to offend a man who has tattoos, big arms, and coffee stains on his T-shirt. That is a sure fire way to become a whooped -ist.
A few years back, I went to seminary and read about transubstantiation, and learned how to translate Greek and Hebrew into English. Before that I went to college and read the transcendentalists, and transcended ages and epochs through literature. I was too old to play with the transformers that my grandson had, toys that are too cool for mere children. One day, however, I was alone in my daughter's house and I found one, a transformer. I was born in the wrong age.
And then there are the current trans- words. Bruce Jenner is transgender. Both the people who are for or against this go crazy and make all sorts of stupid statements meant to shock and shame the rest of us into conformity of nonthink. For instance, "God doesn't make mistakes," is one I have heard over and over. Well, God made man and man made mistakes and one of those mistakes was original sin. With original sin came a change in ALL of nature. Mistakes happen in nature because of sin. So, what do I think of Bruce Jenner? I don't. The way I see it, that is his or her business and it is between him or her and God and I have no desire to waste my precious brain power, or the lack thereof, on this whatever it is.
Then of course there is Rachel Dolezal and the new-to-me concept of transracial. I will only say that somewhere along live's long road I came to the stunning and liberating realization that I don't have to have an opinion about everything. Some things are simply a waste of thought, which brings me to the concept of transcerebral. This is one I coined, as far as I know, and it means we live in an age where reason and logic are essentially misunderstood relics. People emote and confuse their emotions for thought and their emote-thought has to be correct because it is theirs and if you don't agree you are stupid, evil, and belong to the wrong political party.
There is one more new trans- concept that I recently discovered in this transcerebral world. This is the joyful reality that some of us are living through transageism, the phenomena of not ageing the way the rest of the population does. I think it started a few years back with George Foreman re-winning the heavyweight boxing championship at grandfather age, but just like the last trans- word, I coined the term in part because I myself and transageing right before your very eyes. Yes, there is proof. Take my Chicot Challenges:
Chicot I (56 years old) swam 13.94 miles
Chicot II (57 years old) swam 16.0 miles
Chicot III (58 years old) swam 17.7 miles
Chicot IV (59 year old) swam 19.0 miles
See!
I am not ageing like the general population. And this exciting new biological experience is not just physical but mental as well. My wife constantly tells me I need to grow up. But I don't want to grow up. My granddaughter says I'm silly. That's because I'm transageing. My dad used to say when people get old they relive their childhood. I am reliving mine now, and I am having more fun than ever. If you are not transageing, give it a try. Go outside and play and go inside and dream. Both of these, playing and dreaming, are catalysts for transageing which has to be good for you despite the lack of scientific studies.
Besides transageing, I think I will become a transageist, a person who champions the benefits of growing old and young at the same time. If you stop and think about it, that's what this blog always was, but I just didn't realize that until now. Better late than never.
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