I love words...I love to define them... I love to study them...I love to use them. I do, however, have a confession (gulp) I'm terrible at spelling them! I BLAME spellcheck! There I said it. Now with that out of the way let's get back to the matter at hand, words. Words are one of the most powerful forces that we, as humans, have in our possession. We have a vast arsenal of dialect (some more than others) just on the tips of our tongues...AND just at the tips of our fingers we have our very own legion on standby just waiting to fire at the masses upon our orders...Social media! "I Got The POWER!" (pardon the SNAPback)...
Think about it...seriously...There's Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, Google+, tumblr...the list goes on and on. These sites are available 24/7 and ready for all special moments, celebrations, random insignificant selfies, and emotionally driven rants....Words. words....WOrDs!!
As of late, there have been tons of debate on these social media forums....Gay rights, Gun control, Ducks vs. humanity...blah blah blah. These are what I like to call "word games" or, in some cases,"war of words" There are vast differences between the two, though ... "word games" can be fun and even humorous, especially when your opponent is...how do you say??... word incompetent...no, no....maybe word challenged??....or maybe a tad word ignorant??...yeah I think that's the one. ;) Yes these games with words can be quite entertaining. They can also be very challenging on those days when your opponent is well versed and obviously reads a dictionary for leisure. (wipes brow) these are the word games I enjoy most...(thank God for Google;) but let's talk about the latter for a moment... "war of words"
War, by definition, means to be in a state of hostility and conflict...and unfortunately war is also synonymous with bloodshed. In a single moment a single rant that is riddled with hurtful or, essentially, deadly words can reach a damaged soul and push them right over the edge. With just the click of the mouse an emotional rant can reach millions.Words...the most powerful resource, or weapon, that we have. A single sentence can cause irreparable harm, even death. Dramatic? No have you read about the effects of cyber bullying? A cyber bully isn't the 6ft 5th grader who towers over everyone in his class anymore...no a cyber bully is an insecure, unfeeling, sociopath who has loaded his/her ignorance with words and fires his/her hate aimlessly into the boundless classroom of the internet via social media. Or your average social media butterfly who has jumped on the FB or Twitter bandwagon and fires at the crowds....while justifying every single word (bullet)
Gun control? Maybe we should discuss tongue control.... Words, how do you use them? Are your words bringing laughter or encouragement? Are your words sparking great debates and intellectual conversation? OR are your words condemning or hateful?
I know that everyone has their own opinion and has every right, under the constitution, to express that opinion....but just because you have the right to do something doesn't necessarily mean that you should. I am as guilty as the next person of expressing my opinion...sometimes it was expertly written and articulated and, well let's be honest, other times it was emotional and harmful and for that (clears throat) I apologize.
I guess, as I strategically string my words together, I am trying to paint a picture of understanding and compassion. Hopefully the words that I use today will encourage others to 'think' about the words they choose tomorrow and take into consideration those that will read them and what effect they might have on a soul or a community of souls.I hope to engage in many more word games with well verse intellectuals and...well, not so intellectuals...but I hope that the "war of words" are becoming a thing of the past... My History professor once said, "The greatest ideas are birthed in heated debate." and I totally concur.... Carefully chosen words can resolve great mysteries or open a closed mind, but words fueled by emotion can create a bloody battleground riddled with destruction. Words are nothing to play around with....choose them and use them wisely.
Just Bb
