Words of Power ...

I sit in awe of the power of language. As Martin Heidegger says, "Language is the House of Being," and I can't agree with him more. Children come into their own through their mastery of language. When they can talk to you and communicate what they need / want / feel / think, they have the power of affect the world around them in ways they hadn't been able to before. They can get juice when they would have received milk. They can ask for cheese instead of crackers. They can tell you that they need a kiss or a hug or that they miss their Daddy when he's at work, then you can e-mail Daddy, he can call, and then they can talk and come away feeling loved.

Language shapes the world you live in. Writers create new worlds, then readers sometimes appropriate that world and integrate it into their own. One clear example of this comes from my fifth grade year. I was reading Lloyd Alexander, and one line in the novel I was reading (I no longer remember the name of the title or the main character) has stuck with me for over 25 years. That line (paraphrased): "I've heard of women's work and men's work, but I've never heard the work complain about who did it."

The message to me: you can do any damn thing you want to, and who cares if a man is supposed to be doing it. What a world-changer.

This is why I write. I want to create a world around me that is a world where everyone, myself included, respects the individuality of those around them. People are NOT a number, they are thinking, feeling, speaking beings, each with their own particular world-view. The world of the misogynist is as valid as the feminist, and both deserve acknowledgement. No, this does NOT mean that you have to agree with what they say. You just have to respect their right to say it and move on. However, you don't have to listen.

One of the great things about using language actively is that you can both affect change and be changed as you communicate with others. You can show the world your house of being and possibly offer them a new pillow or curtain to put in their own house. Your words may even be akin to a gallon of paint, and color the way they see the world.

Powerful stuff, isn't it.