A Meditation on Words

I wrote the following from a prompt that asked us to choose one word and explain why it was so important. Being a writer, I found this exercise to be extremely difficult. Words are my life’s blood. They are what make me tick. I am not complete if I don’t write several hundred words a day (ok, that may not be every day), but you get what I mean. To choose just one? No possible…or is it?

A Meditation on the Possibilities of Words

One word? In the entire lexicon of words? I need to choose only one?

How could I possibly choose between LOVE and COMPASSION?

Love is all encompassing and connects humans to one another without which we would be lost like leaves floating in the air separated from their life source and destined to decay.

Compassion is our depth of feeling, that openness that we expand into when we are loving. It is the interconnectedness of all things and enriches our lives. If not for compassion, we would be soulless husks, shells of nothingness.

What about HOPE and BELIEF?

Hope is that thing that drives us, keeps us striving for more, enables us to overcome even the darkest of times. If there is no hope in the world, then there is no point for living.

Belief is our foundation upon which we see the world. The scaffolding of our inner core. If we have no beliefs, then we have no framework through which to see and interact within the world.

And what of the more mundane words such as WHEN or HOW?

              When is that flexible word that can be asking a question or telling a story. It is dynamic and scene setting. If not for when, we could not tell our stories or project into the future. Life would be dull and trapped in the present.

              How is all about curiosity and exploration. I could not discount even a small word such as this for all the possibilities that it brings into my world. Without how, I could not inquire about my friends health or the way a thing is made. I would not wonder at the world and what lays beyond.

Could I choose between DAY or NIGHT?

              Day brings new possibilities with each dawn. New adventures and stories to be lived. Each day is a new beginning. If not for day, how could we describe our waking experiences? Would we lose hope, fracture our beliefs, succumb to our fears and nightmares?

              Night holds the deep mystery of life and the magic of moonlight. It reveals the velvet skies filled with worlds of possibilities spread across the universe. If not for night, there would be no shadowy mysteries lurking in the dark playing upon our imagination, driving us to hope for the coming dawn.

You ask me to choose my favorite and, if I must, then that word is POSSIBILITY. In honor of all the possibilities that are available to us with the words we have within the lexicon of the English language. Each word, no matter how important or mundane, holds possibilities either on their own or when combined with others. Words are magic and contain power within them. They are the keys to our imagination, creativity and living life to the fullest.

Understand their potential and choose wisely.