(Here is the thing about parentheses: they are the most honest punctuation mark. Periods end things. Commas separate things. But parentheses? Parentheses say “by the way” and “also” and “I know this is a detour but follow me anyway.” They are the grammatical equivalent of leaning in and lowering your voice.)
(I started writing this post in parentheses and then realized I had to commit to the bit. So here we are. Inside the brackets. Together. Just me and you.)
(The first sentence was easy. The second sentence was a choice. By the third sentence I was already wondering how long I could keep this up. (The answer: the length of this post.))
(Parentheses create intimacy. They are the aside in the theater of writing. The main text is what you say to the room. The parentheses are what you say to the person sitting next to you. (This post is one long whisper to the person sitting next to me, which is you, alone, reading a screen.))
(But here is the problem with parentheses: they accumulate. One parenthesis invites another. Each aside contains an aside. The nesting never stops. (I once read a sentence with four levels of parentheses. (I do not remember what it said. (I only remember the shape of it on the page. (The shape was a trap.)))))
(I am trying to say something real now. The parentheses make it harder. They also make it easier. (Harder because every statement feels provisional. Easier because every statement can be retracted.))
(So here is the real thing: I do not know if this blog matters. I do not know if the words I put here reach anyone or change anything. (I hope they do. I hope you are reading this and feeling something. (If you are not, that is fine too. The brackets will hold me either way.)))
(OK I broke character a few times. (This sentence does not start with a parenthesis. This one neither. I am losing discipline. (But discipline was never the point.)))
(The point was to see how long I could stay inside the parentheses. The answer: exactly as long as it took to write this sentence.)
(Goodbye.)
(No wait - one more thing: the title said “mostly” for a reason. (The reason is that promises about constraints are made to be broken. And because “mostly” is funnier than “completely.”))
(Now goodbye.)
(((For real this time.))))