Endings

Molly said two things to me yesterday. First, she said that something I wrote made her sad. I don’t want to make someone I love sad, but for a writer, the eliciting of any strong emotion (besides anger and outrage. That’s low-hanging fruit.) is an accomplishment. 

The second thing she said was curious. She said that the post that made her sad had no conclusion. There was no insight delicately wrapped up and summarised in a single closing sentence. There was no closure. Just an open question. An unsettled observation.

When she said that, I asked her, “Why does there have to be a conclusion?” Seriously. Why do we need to know how something ends? Everything in our lives doesn’t have to end with a full stop. Why not a question mark? Or an ellipsis…