An Active ‘Is’

I think we need a more active present tense form of the verb ‘to be.’ ‘Is’ is weak. It is so often used to for light transitions, labels, and descriptions, that it no longer carries weight as a word of action and intent.

‘Mr. Obama is the president,’ I say. I don’t merely want to describe the man’s job, or give him another label (as in, Mr. Obama is male, or is African-American); I want to say ‘Mr. Obama is, and actively exists in the role of, the President.’

This all matters because our current forms of usage what is heavy seem light. We take active and intentional roles that reflect temperaments, that shape behaviors and beliefs, and present them wrapped in the same verbal packaging that carries hair color and astrological data.

To put it simply, one of these things is not like the others: ‘Jane is a redhead. Jill is a Gemini. June is a CTO.’ There should, in some ideal world, be a different ‘is’ verb to reflect the active and intentional form of being that occurs when people adopt—or are placed into—roles and identities.

But if we can't have a different word we might as well change our 'to be' thinking habits.