Speaking Words of Wisdom

Dearest Readers,
Appreciate words. I know you’re thinking … um duh …, but after finishing The Book Thief this weekend, I wanted to reiterate this seemingly simple lesson in a sophisticated light.
The novel, if you are unaware, is about the holocaust from the perspective of death, who is a sympathetic narrator. (ps. My mom recommended me this book after reading it for her book club. My mother has excellent taste.) Moving on, the book centers around a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany ,and how she finds the will to survive through words. The book can be summed up in the sentence “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” Pure poetry if you ask me.
Take a second to think about the power of words. I know, I know, I am a writer so you think I’m just taking you down some poetic and emphatically deep path, but just stick with me for a second. Words inform you of all events. The news, what you’re friends did that day. Words can deceive you to think one way. Think in terms of leaders who know how to persuade with words. Words tell us to stop, and teach us life lessons, and they tell us how we should act. It’s how we communicate, and how we entertain ourselves, and we judge others on how they use words. Words control ... well ... everything. (There is a whole excellently dorky book about this concept if you follow this link.)
Philosophical tangent aside, they are just interesting. Why are certain words off limits? It’s a word. What makes certain words so powerful? How did words get their meaning? Who created these words…who though ah yes this thing we use to warm ourselves shall be called light…who was that person?
For the writers out there, words are gorgeous. The way they sound, the way you can mix them up to conjure images in the mind of someone else, the way you can choose them to create just the right effect. Words are delicious.
Lesson to be learned: I know this has been an unusually deep post, and all you little readers out there are perhaps shaking your head at me, but next time you say something just take a moment to consider the words you use. Next time you greet someone or talk to a friend or even have a job interview realize that your words are what define you.
As a writer, all I can hope to achieve is to one day have ‘made the words right,’ to do them justice.
Philosophically yours,
Adorkable