Power

 

Words matter.

In grade school, we were often told the cliché, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” but that’s a lie.

Words can hurt… but they can also heal.

What we say matter.

What we think matter.

Knowledge is power, but what good is knowledge if it isn’t transferred to someone else?

Communication is the real conduit for power.

I often speak of Emily P. Freeman. She’s a mentor of mine, she just doesn’t know it. In her most recent book, she wrote a chapter about the importance of naming things.

Naming things… putting words to it.

If you can name it, describe it, you can harness it.

And if you can harness it, you can have power over it.

For the longest time, I have wanted to be a writer. I communicate best via the written word. I am my best self when I am getting words down… on paper, on the computer screen, on social media. I share not for “likes” or affirmations, but because I know that words matter, and as a reader, I know that the words of other people can make the words I speak over myself change. I hope to do the same for others.

Sometimes, when you put the words down in black and white, things don’t seem so scary anymore. Hope is found in the process, through clarification and revision and transparency. Words can serve to connect us, especially in this digital age.

Today, my declaration is that “I am a writer”. I may not ever be published, but I’m writing words here that matter to somebody, even if it is just one other person. Honestly, even if it just me.

What dream do you need to put into words today? Find a safe place. Write it down, even if it’s only somewhere that you can see. Then go back and read it over, and over, and over again until you believe it.

YOUR WORDS MATTER. SPEAK LIFE TO YOURSELF. And until you can, I’ll be here sharing my words with you. I’m not courageous, but this is my courageous fight… to encourage you, meet you where you are, and tell you to keep chasing your dreams.

Grace, my friend.