I find myself using the phrase "it's all good" now and then. I cringe every time these three words roll off my tongue. It is so easy to say, but I despise its idiotic implications.
First, a serious look at the whole world immediately reveals that it's not all good! In fact, things often seem downright miserable.
Second, to paraphrase Kurt Cobain, "All in all is all it all is." This is to say, being isn't good or bad, it simply is, or perhaps better, appears to be. Certainly "all" isn't good or bad, all merely is--end of story. The value of "all" being good or bad is our own interpretation, and again, if my interpretation of the world is that "it's all good" then I need to have my freakin' head examined!
Third, what the heck is the reference of "it's" anyway? What is this "it" that I am saying that is good? I don't have a freakin' clue what I am supposed to be referring to when I say "it's all good." In the above, I've taken "it" to refer to everything, so really, saying "it's all good" is saying, "everything is all good," or "all is all good." Again, all isn't good, all simply is. And why would I have to repeat myself by saying "all is all?"
Perhaps the reference of "it" is purposely ambiguous so that this phrase can be used in different circumstances; however, this simply goes to show that this is a phrase used to illustrate laziness on the part of the person who utters it:
"Do you want chicken or fish for dinner?"
"Would you like to go outside?"
"Does this make me look fat?"
"Which film was your favorite at the festival?"
etc.
This small list of questions could be extended to include thousands or hundreds of thousands of occurrences which could all be responded to by, "it's all good." So, "it's all good" seems to me to simply show that the speaker of this phrase isn't interested in discussing such and such, isn't willing to enter into a conversation, and quite obviously is lazy when it comes to genuine communication! Why the hell would I want to illustrate that I suffer from these poor qualities by using this phrase? Yet I do, much more than I'd like.
So, I am going to try to eliminate this pathetic excuse for communicating from my speaking habits. Every time I catch myself saying it I will complain loudly about what a moron I am for using it. I will diligently try to stop myself from forming these words with my mouth, even if I have to resort to using behaviour conditioning based on punishing myself--perhaps I could get some of that stuff you put on your nails to stop biting them, that awful, bitter taste could be my "reward" for every time I find myself wanting to say, "it's all good."
I mean really, I 'm only here in the world for a short time and I think that the words and phrases that I use ought to be carefully and consciously selected to illustrate attempts at genuine communication and engagement with the world and the people who share it with me. Most certainly I'd like to be on my death bed and able to look back at my life and think, "It's all g..."
Time to go buy that nail biting stuff. |
