There’s always a different way to say anything.
“Parnarnus”, technically, is a word our daughter made up one day when she was 6 years old. She was watching a movie (I believe it was “Little Shop of Horrors”, which tells you a lot about our parenting style right there), and the time had come for movie-watching to stop and room-cleaning to begin, so the movie was going to be paused “at the end of this scene”.
“It’s not a scene, it’s a Parnarnus.” replied our daughter. She went on to explain that a parnarnus was a part of a movie where some things happen, and then they go somewhere else. In other words, pretty much exactly what we’d known as a scene. But different.
Every one of our projects, from short stories to films to research papers to grand plans for education and government, is a collaboration. Even the strongest, most solid, most well-developed initial idea can be made even stronger and more effective with the addition of other points of view, other ways of thinking, or other skillsets. Even when a particular suggestion or idea doesn’t work out, and doesn’t get into the final product, just the act of seeking it out and considering it for a moment can be incredibly beneficial. Whether it’s the best way to nail a joke or the best way to trim several thousand dollars off of a production budget, having a variety of opinions and a slew of options to choose from leads to the best results.
Few projects can survive the lack of a strong leader, and the old wisdom that “too many chefs can ruin a soup” is certainly true, but at the same time, very, very few truly effective and successful examples of art or business or society are entirely the product of a single voice. From initial concept to final sale, everyone involved adds something to the mix.
And that’s what Parnarnus is to us: That different point of view that we never would have thought of, that adds immeasurably to what we’re putting together.
There’s always a different way to say anything.