“Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I’ll kiss you for it. To go wrong in your own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.”
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Yes. Yes. Yes. I prefer the honest nonsense spoken by the beautiful oddballs who think it. I’ll kiss them every time. I appreciate the courage to be authentic and unguarded, if a bit unrefined and unkempt. I like the missing buttons and holes in the sleeves of these funny shirt wearers, willing to take a risk. I like the beautiful shabbiness of their nonsense, which may not be nonsense at all. I think they may see unseen things or feel them and know them, maybe differently, but truly. I like believing that these things exist as possibilities and maybe dreams that can come true.
With this in mind, I am happy to forgive the wrongness of our own way, and know it’s better than the rightness of any other way. There is no other way than our own- not in any sense that feels rich and right and whole. I’m glad this is true and I’m glad I know it, at least in the ways that I do, which may involve some of my own nonsense. Meh.
Home from work after a turkey day shopping trip, I felt good. I was ahead and I was tired. After putting my groceries away, I sat down in my yellow chair to watch the late afternoon sky become gray and begin its sleepy journey. Being tired, I began my own. I grabbed a blanket and a pillow and laid down on my couch. My house was warming up, but I was still chilly. My blanket solved this issue and I dozed off. For an intense half-hour, I melted into my couch and dreamed dreams and woke up not knowing which day it was. It was sweet, and probably necessary. I listen to these things. I had some other things to do which may have made more sense than a nap, but I’m not sure they did. I feel better and awake and alive. Our own nonsense makes us feel this way I think. It may be how we know we’re onto something, and it may be worth kissing.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger

Dave Markwell is a life-long Des Moines liver and lover. Former owner of Waterland CrossFit and the Waterland Arcade, Dave uses his unique story-telling voice to help small businesses tell a better story, and his love for people to help folks live bigger and better lives.
For more info, check out his website: wordsbydave.net.
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