THE POWER OF WORDS

I love words.  I love the way they look and the way they sound. My blog is called Serendipity because it is one of my favorite words.  I love the meaning of the word.  I love the power the word has had in my life. Only words have the power to evoke so many emotions.  That power transcends any language.  Listen to a child call for his mother in any language and you can understand the love even if the word is a little different.  Words can make you cry or laugh out loud.  Words can draw pictures.  Think of the word peach.  You see a round fuzzy yellow orange fruit.  But if you see the sentence "She was eating a sweet juicy peach."  You can actually imagine the juice running down her arms and your mouth starts to water.  Some words just sound like the thing they are meant to convey.  If you hear the word placid, you can picture a calm lake or a quiet person.  If you hear the word torrential, don't you immediately think of loud roaring rain or water going over a dam. 

I love to watch a baby learning to talk.  I am still amazed at how fast they pick up language skills.  Right now my great grandson who will be two in a few weeks seems to be picking up 50 words a day.  If he hears a new word, he repeats it over and over.  Yesterday, I was telling my daughter about the Jambalya I made.  He said Jambalya over and over with pure joy on his face.  The four year old delights me with his perfect use of words such as ordinarily, actually, occasionally and many others.  He can explain in great detail how a combustion engine works.  Just think how amazing it is that in just a few short years, a child goes from babbling to having a vocabulary of thousands of words. 

Though I can't carry a tune, I love words set to music.  I can hear a song and it will bring back memories of other times and places.  I sing the same songs to my great grand kids that I sang to my kids and grand kids.  They listen and snuggle and warm my heart. 

My favorite gifts to give or receive are books.  Books have always been my passion, my comfort, a place to replenish my energy.  When I was an unhappy teenager, I turned to books.  My favorite place of refuge was the library.  I still love libraries and I am happy to see how inviting today's libraries are for children and adults alike.

Nothing has the power to hurt like words or the power to invoke passions.    Wars have started because of words and wars have ended because of the power of words.  Today's information technology makes the dissemination of words more powerful than ever.  The downfall of the dictators in the middle east is proof of that.  Our own country was founded because of the power of words.  We still abide by the words written in the constitution so many years ago.

Words can evoke joy, tenderness, and wonder.  Words can transport you to exotic locations without ever leaving your home.  Words can help you experience the past or perhaps the future.

My love affair with words has added immense joy to my life and comforted me when I was sad.  We tell our children to "use your words."  I hope I will always use my words for the good of the world.