It’s only words…

Words have a lot of power, but they are only words. Sometimes they are all we have, yet at the same time actions speak much louder than words. There are lots of times when people say things and don’t mean it, or say things that they regret and say ‘I didn’t mean it’. I know I’ve been guilty of angry words, words that I cringe about afterwards. Words do hurt people and can sometimes be worse than actions because you can repeat them like broken records over and over. Anyway, this post is about how beautiful the power of words can be – to let us know that other people have been through the same thing, to help us imagine something, to let us know that it is good to dare to dream. You only have to read a book or listen to good lyrics or talk to a friend to know that words – whilst not the only way to express ourselves – are beautiful and priceless.

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.  ~ Victor Hugo

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it…. People think pleasing God is all God care about.  But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.  ~ Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  ~ Sylvia Plath

And why don’t you write? Write! Writing is for you, you are for you; your body is yours, take it. I know why you haven’t written. (And why I didn’t write before the age of 27.) Because writing is at once too high, too great for you, it’s reserved for the great – that is, for great “men”; and it’s “silly”. Besides, you’ve writtena little, but in secret. And it wasn’t good, because it was secret, and because you punished yourself for writing, because you didn’t go all the way; or because you wrote, irresistibly, as when we would masturbate in secret, not to go further, but to attenuate the tension of it, just to take the edge off. And then as soon as we come, we go and make ourselves feel guilty – so as to be forgiven; to forget, to bury it until next time.

Write, let no one hold you back, let nothing stop you: not man; not the imbecilic capitalist machinery, in which the publishing houses are the crafty, obsequious relayers of imperatives handed down by an economy that works against us and off our backs; not yourself. Smug-faced readers, managing editors, and big bosses don’t like the true texts of women – female-sexed texts. That kind scares them. ~ Helene Cixous.

I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you. ~ Maya Angelou

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. ~ Antoine de Saint Exupery, The Little Prince.

Image by Paul Hagon on Flickr