They’re Only Words. . .But Sometimes They Are Everything

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The words we speak to each other are not empty. Speech is an action. It fills the silence, fills in the blanks, and connects the lines between thoughts and responses.

Words can bring us closer to understanding each other or they can cause distance and disconnection. They can be a joyful affirmation or an unpleasant surprise.

“They’re only words”, but sometimes words are everything. They can show (not just tell of) our lives, our spirits, our intentions, and our most tender and vulnerable selves.

Our words are our questions, about others and about ourselves. They are our answers, our lifeline, our courage, our confidences, and one of our most powerful expressions of thoughts and feelings.

Writers are often told to “show, don’t tell”. Words can do both, of course, but even in the telling they show so many things: knowledge, intent, feeling, philosophy, conscientiousness, and care, for example. Even the word “telling” has a double meaning.

tell·ing
adj.
1. Having force and producing a striking effect.
2. Revealing previously unknown information.
3. Having a marked effect or impact. a telling blow
4. Revealing. a telling smile

I can tell you of my belief that words are actions, and you might even agree (or not), but to drive my point home I might show you some of the ways in which words had a tangible affect.

I might, but I know that most of my readers already understand — words hurt. Words comfort. Words can strike out, lift up, provoke, encourage, enrage, celebrate, defend, and demonstrate.

Your words and mine. Ours together and separately. Those we say out loud and those we whisper in secret.

They’re only words, but they’re not. They are sometimes everything, including what remains thought of but unspoken.

I’m getting ready to write a book. Thousands of words are gathering around me. I’m immersed in words — those I’ve heard, those I’ve spoken, and those that have been kept still and silent, waiting to be told. I don’t know if this purposeful drowning will have the happy ending of being sold and read. I do know that I’ll pour everything I’ve got into making it a story with a conscience.