Words Matter

One of my very favorite things in life are words. I love reading them, I love writing them, and I love looking at them. I love watching the way they change and the meaning I find in each change they make. I own quote books by the dozen. I found them motivational and inspiring. I have The Book of Positive Quotations that has been read hundreds of times, and marked and colored to the point of no return. 

"Sticks and stones may break my bones

but words will never hurt me."

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.

Words matter. I don't care who you are or what language you speak, words matter. Actions may speak louder than words, but to say words will never touch me is to say the way humans verbally interact and communicate is insignificant... and that simply isn't true.

I don't know what scientific correlation there is between spoken words and beating hearts - but I do know that one affects the other. If words make my heart happy, I'll be singing loud praises all day long! If hurtful words are said, that hurt will quickly find its way to my heart.

Words hold power. Martin Luther King once gave a speech entitled "I Have a Dream." Those words changed the course of human history, those words became a living legacy, those words changed the lives of millions.

What you say to others holds more weight than you realize.

Words bring color and magic into our lives. They place peace in our hearts and understanding to our minds in a way that nothing else can. Just like anything else in the world, they can be forgotten, and we need to be reminded of them often. 

One day when I own a home, words will be on display every which way you look. My walls will most definitely be lined with books and most likely something just like this.

Tom Stoppard says, 
"I don't think writers are sacred, 
but words are. They deserve respect.
 If you get the right ones in the right order, 
you can nudge the world a little...” 

To Tom Stoppard:

Consider my world nudged.