We "love" coffee, we "hate" traffic.
What type of people are we, what does it say about our hearts that we can use the two most powerful sentiments on fluff and chaff? We give up the meat & potatoes of life for the fat and worthless scraps of empty echoes. Why? We are made for speech, for relational moments. We are made with souls to express ourselves. Why do we blather and squawk, sounding as if we are just taught to speak as a trick. Why do we let such power go to waste? Why can't we use it to define us? Why can't we use it for good? To build each other, ourselves up? We use words like pennies, not realizing we're throwing away priceless gems & gold.
Language is what sets us apart from animals(though dolphins and velociraptors could have us beat),
Seriously. These guys probably have better vocab then tweens these days.
....ahem....but we bleat out the same words day after day, sentence after sentence, tweet after tweet. Next time you're talking to someone, keep a tally of how many times "like" is said. That's one of my greatest problems, and one of my personal vices I wish to overcome, so don't think I'm sitting on a hipster holier-than-thou throne of unheard of records and films. That's not me, by far. How I'd *like* to see myself is an intelligent, warm, accepting person, who loves & relies on conversation, good conversation. With eye contact and no cell phones to distract us from getting to know one another. To respect each other's presence by being present. Actually listening and responding in kind. Not just waiting our turn to speak.
In this day and age of such interconnected-ness we are the least connected age. Many people I know and see end up sitting next to each other in silence: texting others, smiling vaguely at funny videos about cats, or talking to others who aren't even there rather than enjoy each other's personal real-life interactions.
Seriously, this comic gets it. Hold on, let me respond to this text. Oh wait...
Whining about "kids these days" is not the object of this post however, so I'll let that dead horse lay there for now.
I just want everyone to take a moment today and think about the words you say. Think about where they are coming from. For those of us who take stock in the bible, Matthew 15 speaks about this subject. Christ is challenged by some hypocrites *cough cough* I meant Pharisees, sorry, and they tell Him what goes into a man's mouth makes him unclean. Christ replies that that in fact is not true, but what comes out of a man's mouth defiles him. And what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. So, dear readers, search your hearts as you speak. You may not be Christian, you may not follow any religion at all, but you have to admit that we are all human beings. So we are all worthy of love and respect, yourselves included. So guard your heart, guard the words you use. I won't say use them sparingly. Anyone who knows me in the "real" world knows I can't ever shut up. But what I am trying so desperately to say is that you have so much power in you, in your words. Do not waste it. Because that would be, like, a tragedy, you know?
As I always do, I give you quotes in closing. Because there are so many others that have come before to say what I'm trying to say in a much more beautiful, poignant way than I can. Have a wonderful day, and take care of yourself. You're worth getting to know, and those around you are worthy to hear what you actually have to say, as they are. Listen to them, listen to yourself.
"Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts."
— Patrick Rothfuss
"A word has power in and of itself. It comes from nothing into sound and meaning; it gives origin to all things."
— N. Scott Momaday
"True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions."
— Joseph Addison
