Words Matter

I love words

I remember opening a dictionary in middle school

Copying down the words and their definitions

Seeing how an adjective can become a noun

Just by changing the ending

Or how a big word can be made up of small pieces

In high school I entered the world of Latin

A dictionary expanded to a grammar

The history of words came alive

Through the prepositions and clauses

Declensions, conjugations, verbs, nouns,

And history

I learned false narratives about etymology

I learned that my teacher didn’t know everything

As I grasped concepts like subjunctive clauses

(Or remained confused with concepts like gerundives)

I flourished and swam in a sea of ancient words that have survived

I get to read the stories of those who passed long ago

I get to share my love for words

To some it might be a cool party trick

But to me it is a fire that burns in my heart

Words are a filter

Words are culture

Words are important

Important

Defined as ‘something of great worth or consequence’

The Latin literally means something of significance that is carried into a situation

We carry ourselves in our words

When we lose touch of this, we lose touch of our impact

We think our words, but we do not hear them

We use our words, but we do not feel them

I know the importance of ‘I statements’

Which is why I choose to say we

This is not something limited to me

It is something that is evolving in our generation

Especially in the context of domestic abuse

Yes. I named it.

Domestic abuse.

I said it again.

*deep breath*

It is real

Abuse means something that is misused

When we misuse our words,

We abuse the people around us

When we say whatever we feel

Without stopping to think about impact

We abuse the people around us

When we use our privilege to be apathetic about change

Nothing happens

In high school, I advanced in Latin class

I was the teacher’s pet

The star of the show

I loved it

Words made sense to me

It was very logical

I said this, it meant this every time

It was a puzzle

I finally had a puzzle that made sense

Words have always been a puzzle

“I love you”

“I am a parent”

“Listen to my words, not my tone”

Delivery is key

If the delivery misses, no one gets their package