Let's get deep for a minute.
It's strange, hmm, words. Words that sing, words that sting. Rambling on, flowing form our lips, our tongue, that unquenchable fire that leads us on.
I find myself today pondering words.
The words I choose.
The words I use.
One word in particular, "hate". That awfully treacherous, formidable word. A word used often. Too often. A word we carry around on the tip of our tongue. Thrown around so nonchalantly. That word, "hate".
Driving through the parking garage, scoping out the nearest, best spot, I felt it bubbling up in me, "I hate short cars, the way they always make it look like there's a free spot when there's not!" That word, "hate", pierced me like a knife. It felt dirty in my mouth, it tasted unflattering. I found myself suddenly distracted in a flurry of thoughts on the issue as I continued to circle through the garage forgetting all about a spot for my Jeep.
I couldn't understand how. How can a word that harsh nestle so cozily into my day to day? Just like that, it slipped off my tongue into a moment, bringing a heaviness that wasn't meant to be there. I wasn't in a hurry. My legs work just fine. I didn't need that one particular spot. Where did that anger come from? So quickly at that. Such a smooth descent from inner being into daylight. That word, "hate". I felt it. I lived it for a moment. And I "hated" it.
Rooted in anger, malice. So ugly and crude. It's not just a word. It's a network of emotions. It's a cruelty. It's a disease within me that darkens my eyes and shuts out the light.
It has woven itself into my subconscious. And there are so many more like it.
I wish I could delete them all together, even so I will try and weed out their terrifying roots, that have crept into my soul. I have a choice, and I choose to be...
Purposeful.
I need to be purposeful. I want my words to be delicate and full of light. And I believe that can be. They will be.
I see the power in words. I love the power in words. But power must be honored. It must be wielded with poise – a poise that is chosen not earned.
It's funny, that quote from Shakespeare. It speaks of names. It reveals an important truth:
A name (a word) isn't everything.
The thing, person, feeling it represents is so much more, but unfortunately, in this world, this earthly time, names and words have grown more prominent than we know. And though, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet", what first comes to mind when you hear that word "rose"? – a rose, much like the one at the top of this page.
What I'm getting at here is that words are important. They matter.
They crush and they love. They honor and disgrace. They sing and yet they sting.
They are the number one way we communicate.
We can't be thoughtless with our words. We can't be hasty. There is too much worth in us to speak so worthlessly.
How many times have your own words deceived you? I can't even number them.
And they will rule us if we aren't careful.
So I will choose my words wisely (the way I have been told to all my life).
Because, yes, words are full of power, but we can conquer them. We will conquer them.
Happy Wording!