As a storyteller, when people ask what I do I usually describe it as “Words: Spun, Sung, Spoken and Scrawled. In my life, I’ve had the good fortune to present words in all their formats. As a vocalist I spent time as a singer in studios and on stages. As a writer I’ve had my work of words printed in magazines, newspapers and children’s chapter books. As an actress I’ve gone deep into characters that delivered words I never dreamed could live inside of me, whether from the mind of a playright or improv situations. As an interviewer/moderator words had to be pulled from the atmosphere fast and furiously to guarantee there was no dead-air for listening audiences to wander off in. Every single time I find I have to use words for one reason or another, my soul crackles with excitement and a fair amount of fear — because words have so much power.
 
But, I have to question… Why do words still have so much power, yet so little respect?
 
It saddens and baffles me that words are now, more often than not, treated like fast food or cheap candy. Words fly fast and furious across the wireless world carrying discontent, malcontent and pain. If people don’t like something as simple as someone’s fashion choices or as complex as who they want to love/follow/believe in there’s a great big world to empty your words into. And if those words are empty to boot, and not thought through, it can ignite a hate so incidiary it burns everything in its path. It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword, but the words of today — and their delivery devices — are nuclear.
 
In 2008, the California State Legislature passed one of the first laws in the country to deal directly with cyberbullying. Nearly a decade later, even with laws in place, there is education, training and intervention all over the world to deal with the psychological, emotional and physical effects of words delivered via devices. Words are powerful and they can and do hurt.
 
With millions of dollars being spent to combat cyberbullying and countless hours spent analyzing the mysteries of human nature, I cannot help but believe there is a kernel of hope in having us all recognize and respect the power of the words that live inside us. The words that rattle around in our head and heart, and ultimately put together in strings of thought, have their own strength and potential long before we release them. It is the ones that come out of our mouths, pens, fingertips and thumbs that are the ones we need to be most careful with and respectful of.
 
I am not sure what hashtag could be attached to make sure the message lifts high enough through the rankings to be seen and shared – #WordsofWisdom or #WatchYourWords or some such thing. I just wish we could all show a little more respect for the words that are coming out of our mouths. Or writing implements.
 
xo – t.

  #Word