” maybe you’ve said it. Honestly, i bet i’ve said it. In so many variations.
I won’t belabor that now. I will, however, say that words matter. It doesn’t matter if you’re saying “purple is the most amazing color” or “purple’s the ugliest color ever” or “does the san andreas fault makes me look fat?” actions matter.
Words matter. Meaning matters. Perception matters.
One of the most insightful/worst things i learned through my interpersonal communication courses is this: meaning is in the mind of the receiver. Be sure, i’m not asking you to be all over-p. C.
-super-sensitive. You can craft your message. You can be hyper-aware.
However, sometimes (quite possibly, most of the time) we don’t know we’ve said something impactful until we see the reactions. One of my favorite personal entertainments is to take what people say literally. Try it.
Hold that grain of salt close as you continue reading. The study of words and their usage fascinates me. I suppose that lands me in a unique position to analyze the situations/comments to come.
Hell, there was even a new puzzle-type app launched where you died if you didn’t solve things properly. I died. I died.
I died again. Suicide has a long history of disgrace, shame. Maybe that relates more to the ideal that we, in our lives and the lives of others, can fix things.
If you took your life because you couldn’t solve a problem i could have fixed, well, that’s haunting. Not perfect. I want to fix it.
I want to make it better. He made us human. Errant.
Unequipped to fight the innermost battles that rage; in ourselves or others. Many times, relinquishing control comes so much more difficultly than the trial, itself. I like to believe that means that we all want to make this world a better place.
One way we can do that is that the next time someone reacts harshly to your words, try to flip the script and see it from their pov.