Take 26 letters of the English alphabet, extract into specific sequence, place vowels among the constenants, and you end up saying something!
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Thread those words together into sentences and you will have opportunity to describe in detail, provide action, declare intent or provoke thought.
Words do matter - whether a vehicle of expression or a path to communication.
Words can be enjoyable and stimulate cognitive brain power as you employ them.
To cite their true likeability, I would name word-game apps "the win". Their colorful interfaces lure you in, with graphics and point tallies to take you on a word journey. There are friends, strangers and even bots at your beck and call to start a game anytime of day or night.
You also get more rewards for bigger and better words !
Now switch to platforms where keyboard warriors await to pounce on your post. There you'll witness the darker side of word exchange.
Often, in social media, words expressed become arsenal to annihilate. They cut through meme cuteness with cruel intent - often a venomous rant of entitlement, anger or something worse.
These two examples of wordsmithing are probably seen every day by most, often as a Wordle or a Tweet. The fact that I mentioned them first actually points to a problem.
Words now pop up on screens faster than they are spoken by anyone near you, and they are designed to hold our immediate attention.
To be honest, in daily interactions, words are not that enthralling, and when words spoken become sentences and then grow into longer paragraphs, our tolerance for participation drops.
The art of good conversation today is requiring a smaller canvas to express oneself. Say it - but don't max out your character limit! The less words spoken, miscommunication widens, and we are left to fill in the blanks.
Technology has given us ways to pause, shout, ghost, gaslight, delay, spew, bully and block. These decisive text/chat/email actions have crept into our real time communications, and influenced how we speak, even what we say.
Our verbiage is often sloppy and robotic, floating on the surface of true intention.
Can you recall the last time you sat on a couch, with people you know or have just met, and were thoroughly captivated by the dialogue going on in the room? Ooo..that exciting dance of self expression merging into a collective exchange that made you lose all track of time.
Sigh... I miss those word exchanges! Dialogue is becoming a precious commodity these days.
So what am i saying?
Well, obviously my blog is words and sentences.
I want to write all about wordspeak.
I want words to slip back into our day, taking advantage of their ability to bridge the distance from the one speaking, to the one listening.
Maybe this writing could incite or provoke a dialogue with someone - to test it's holding power.
My word aspirations are easy to list:
I want to ask a question in an email and the reply come back answering the question I originally asked.
I want to say hello when I enter a room and not feel like a disruption.
I want friendly discourse -wait! -respectful discourse, where I learn more and bring home a take away.
I want texting to not be used for highly charged arguments.
I want to write letters to family and friends to surprise and delight.
I want to grasp new words to keep my curiousity in check.
I want to pen stories that impact readers.
And most of all, I want to witness the beauty of words, strung in clever phrases, used with good intention to say as much as I can, in the time I have left on the planet.
Words remain far after we are gone.
Let's become architects with our word supply, and use them to build, not destroy.
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