On How a Sentence Begins

The way we begin a sentence matters, specifically in relation to how we speak about ourselves.

Consider this:

“I know I’m awkward but this is x, y, or z,”

as opposed to,

“This is x, y, or z.”

It’s the preface that builds the cage. Not impermeable or unbreakable, but edifying all the same for the one who is listening.

Consider this too:

“I know I’m insecure but this is how I feel,”

as opposed to,

“This is how I feel.”

There is an assertion in both of the latter sentences that is not certain to land to the same degree in the former.

Language is a construct-building system, a web of words that defines points of relations between the two who are in communication.

It’s a mode of defining the self and when we are self-deprecating, it is often because we want to prove to the other we are aware of our own shortcomings. It’s sort of noble, mostly destructive because we are defining ourselves through a self-imposed constraint. It could also be an illusion, one that we repeat enough times that it gives the impression of a right to speak negatively about ourselves. Enough times and we offer others a right to hold inaccurate perceptions.

Skipping past the insecurity is also about ownership and control, maintaining our inherent right to be flawed as a natural precept of being human while just saying the part we feel or mean.