Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never harm me!! A playground rhyme that is very far from the truth. Words really can harm, hurt and break us. But they can also delight us and take us to the highest heights.
Words carry a lot of power/weight.
The world was spoken into being with words.
We need to use our words wisely.
We need to use our words carefully.
Words carry different meanings for different people.
Words can get twisted and misunderstood.
Words create pictures and pictures create emotions.
Words start as thoughts and then can turn into actions
Words affect our whole body and being.
Words can hurt or heal
Words can be filled with love or filled with hate
Words can speak of power, domination and control or they can speak of humility, freedom, vulnerability and consent
Some people say we shouldn’t make so much of words.
Some take great offence over certain words.
People get canceled, threatened and censored over the words they speak.
Others are celebrated for their choice of words.
‘Politically correct’ is a double edged sword
Respect, dignity, attitude and tone are important aspects in the words we choose and use.
Our words can be silenced and our words can shatter silence
Words lend support and comfort
Words can speak truth or words can speak lies
Words can cut down or build up
Words can be used to invoke for peace and justice
Words can evoke/elicit memories, emotions and sympathy
Words can be harsh and cruel
Words can be kind and reassuring.
Words can inspire or demotivate
Words can bring freedom or restriction
Words can speak life or death
Words can be misspelt or reinvented
Words can be many or few
Words can create stories and write whole books
Words can be both helpful and unhelpful
Words can be remembered or forgotten
Words can describe something brilliantly or make something neutral or dull
“She speaks several languages, including the truth!” Internet comment about the UN Special Rapporteur.
“I heard learning to speak the language of truth is possibly the hardest language to learn.” (An Instagram response)
Words can get us hired or fired
Words help us understand and words can create confusion
Words can be spoken, seen, sung, acted out and listened to
Words can be laced with grace or poison
Words can bring peace or war
Sometimes words are not enough
Words can be put in a poem or a song or a story
Words are how we share our story
Words are how we hear other people’s stories
Languages are spoken through words
Words come in delightful different languages
Words can connect and disconnect
Words can speak forgiveness and they can ask for and offer forgiveness
Words can be inclusive and they can be divisive
Some words can be respectfully avoided
We can always choose a better approach with our words
We can unlearn unhelpful words and relearn more helpful words
We can use our words to bring about positive change
Let us choose our words wisely and carefully.
(First image taken of a child's t.shirt in an Edgars store)
