Nieuws - 13 januari 2011

Words

In the beginning was the Word and the Word with with God and the Word was God.

 Those are the first words of the Gospel according to John. Words, written and spoken, are the at the heart of our humanity, they provide us with a basis. And in the first week of the new year, many pleasant words are exchanged - when we meet, on the phone, by email, and in speeches at the numerous New Year receptions. Happiness, health and success. We express all sorts of personal good wishes on paper, the nicest form being the letter.
This year like any other, thousands of articles, reports and books will come out, full of information and new knowledge. Researchers will be proud of a publication in a prominent scientific journal. Piles of new folders, announcements, reports, cuttings and other written documents will load our reading tables, and the racks in shops and kiosks will bulge with daily papers and weekly and monthly magazines. Some of them more disposable than others, but all intended to be read. And the same goes for the almost innumerable emails that will be sent, the newsletters, the minutes, you name it...
Isn't it all a bit over the top? Wouldn't it be better if we could limit it somewhat? Perhaps we should take a leaf out the book of a painter such as Mondrian. Less is more. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could cut down all that writing to just one story, to just one word, and eventually... to nothing at all. A blank page. A blank page which says it all.