Being Used is Only Bad in Excess
Everyone wants to be used — the circle of life
I was talking with my mom yesterday as we headed into the store.
She said, “Makes you feel useful,” in a positive tone.
I stopped and looked at her before responding. My interest was no longer in what we were discussing. It was just those words — they hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Makes you feel useful”
They did that thing where the simplest form of a sentence just hits you in some profound way, out of nowhere.
“Yes, you are so right, Mom. Everyone wants to be used!” I said.
She looked at me funnily, as I said, “Just not too much.”
When we talk about someone being used, we usually think of it as a bad thing. Comments around people using people usually have negative connotations.
“Oh, she is just using him”
“He is sick of being used”
When you consider what it actually means to be used, though, you can see that we all want to be used, just not too much.
Writers want people to use their gifts and ideas by reading their work and applying it.
