Swearing

This topic has been long overdue and been resigned to the back burner for a long time. Why? Just go over the comments section of my last meaningful post. SP and venus came out strongly against swearing.

Venus went onto mention what her parents told her about swearing " one swears when one does not know enough word-power". I totally agree with this and it has to be the best thing to say to children as parents or responsible adults. But what about educated adults who completely understands the meaning of the word and chooses to use it. Why does one say them?

SP, came up with a generic statement that "swearing is bad for health" which was as funny as one of his million PJ's he used to crack while we were classmates :P He was trying to be funny. But when I came out against it and his favorite nemesis, Intern, decided to support me, he had to give a lecture on controlling frustration and anger and letting them die down rather than venting out in frustration and encouraging them. All of what he said was taken in good humor and I hope SP, you take what I have to say in good spirit.

I never condone or encourage swearing or anger. In fact Ive had a bad history of controlling my anger. So, the following is just my opinion on it and Im not going on support for those who use it as frequently as articles in a sentence. Im stating my stand on swearing not what situations lead me into swearing due to frustration or anger.

No emotion can be classified and clearly demarcated as good or bad, they just dont come in binary anymore. I can never classify my emotional balance at any time as grief or happiness. There are times when I tend to be moody but not depressed, cheerful but not joyous. What Im trying to say is that there are shades of grey in these emotions. I often swear in frustration but never in anger. There is a difference between the two and hence the roundabout explanation involving colors like grey, black and white :P So, am I saying that swearing when frustrated is acceptable? No, but just like you need an outlet for grief or happiness and given that we are not saints or priests, there is a need for an outlet for frustration.

Looking at the big picture; grief, anger or frustration are no different from each other. Bottomline, they are emotions. Each emotion given to its characteristic symptoms. Often Ive seen people who are really pissed in life or really happy and they have to get either emotion out of their system. Once that is done, they are more or less back to their normal self.

The best thing about swearing when you are frustrated is that its immediately out of the system. Almost like a restart button and after that, you look at the reason why you are frustrated in a whole new way. Let me back this up with a small sample of how and when I swear. My tennis coach always used to say that it was absolutely OK to just shout or swear when you miss a simple shot or when things just arent going your way. Infact he showed me how to throw the tennis racquet on the ground without breaking. And I used to let it rip, when I thought I was playing a match incompetently. My roar could be heard 5 courts down the line. It worked in two ways. One, I immediately forgot about the point and was focussed for the next point. Two, it pushed me to play better, kind of like having your coach shout at you for missing an easy shot. Putting things back in perspective, it worked for me.

I stand by what I said earlier. I never swear at people. Too often Ive see a group of close friends swearing at each other because its a fun thing to do, like experimenting new things. Ive also seen the same group of friends swear using the exact same words, while they are having a fight. The reaction is blindingly different. Its like, when you mean those words, the exact same words seem to have a different connotation to it. So, I never swear at people.

Swearing aint cool or hep or forgiveable but its a valid emotion for frustration or anger.