“Your word is your greatest power.”
words written on the tag from Yogi Tea

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about words. We use them all the time, to talk, to write, but do we really know what they mean? And do we use them correctly? And when we use words, do we also form our own meaning and connections with certain words, due to our experiences and our connections with others?

I think we all use language differently. Some people just get by with the simple words and phrases they’ve always been accustomed to hearing. And some strive to push the boundaries of language in ways no one has ever dreamed of doing. Some go out of their way to create new words and new terminology, to coin new phrases that become part of everyday life, as if it had been there all the time.

I could sit and listen to someone talk for hours. The way certain people use words to tell stories is an impressive feat. I like to drink in their words, let them seep into my skin; I absorb language osmotically. When I read, I gather them with my eyes. I love reading the words of strangers but I love even more reading the words of the people I know, because they each have their own unique way of writing, and I enjoy seeing their personality sketched out in their words, and how they choose to write. I can tell a lot by what they write, and also what they don’t.

I’m sure I reveal more about myself than I mean to when I write, mostly because I tend to include way more information than I should. It’s a trait I have inherited from my ancestors, the ability to talk and write about everything and not hold anything in when it comes to me and my past. I realize that I should be more mysterious, and not let my whole life become an open book. I do still have quite a few secrets that only a scattering of people know about. I do. And I intend to keep them that way.

During the day, when I listen to music, I tend to pick up on lyrics in songs that I like. Sometimes you listen to a song repeatedly, yet never fully listen to the lyrics. When you sit and listen to the words, the song awakens something within, and you see the song in a new way. You connect with it differently than before. It’s like looking at a painting, and totally missing the tiny face in the corner of the painting that you’ve never seen before.

It all comes back to our association with words, our individual connections to them. I think we all have a set of words that encircle our past, our lives, our memories. Words that have no meaning to anyone else, but when we see them, we are reminded of what once was, who we are, or what we love. One could say the same thing happens with music as well.

What are your words? What words enchant you, inspire you, satisfy you? I’d tell you mine, but then I’d be giving away way too much information.