R.W. Emerson’s “Write it on your heart” Positive Affirmation

If you’re like me, you might associate older English with more effort. And yet, this is easy to understand.

The word choice: mint. Most of the words are monosyllabic, it’s like a jar of marbles.

But Emerson doesn’t shy away from using longer words where necessary, for precision (e.g. absurdities, blunders, invitations).

Excellent passive voice:

“no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety”

You can feel how apathetic the person it. They’re letting it all happen to them, they’re not in control.

A more active version could be:

“you don’t own your day if you allow fret and anxiety to invade it”

But this version feels like it’s finger-wagging: “don’t forget to do this, because I know you tend to.” Not the same vibe.

And like many other examples we’ve covered: Emerson is talking to you. It reads like a real voice.

You glance at your watch.

It’s 6:28. You’ve been at it since 3.
Crap. Your hot date is at 7. Running late. Sink shower it is.
Nowhere close to done editing…

“…at least all the ideas are laid out, so there’s that. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so? Ok, but how do I make it flow? I need to get the final draft to Stacey for design asap, team cutoff is at noon Thursday…”

You’ve spent dinner completely distracted. Your date just took off. You go home exhausted, plod to your desk, and crack open the laptop.

Or… it could go like this:

5:41 — you’re out of the shower and lip-syncing.
6:17 — dressed to the nines and zenned out.
7:03 — the sunset glints off your aviators as you smile hello.
8:36 — it actually feels like you’re hitting it off. Not just hot, funny to boot.
Next morning, 10:27 — polished draft ready in your inbox.
10:31 — Stacey messages back, “thanks, looks good!”

The difference?

You had Copygloss handle it yesterday afternoon.

For help with editing, email Dan:
[email protected].