The most powerful drug..

 

Words

A powerful drug with

A separation ingredient.. 

Brands are many 

With words of self-help

And a promise

Of healing with attention

To the directions for use..

A higher dose for some

May be prescribed by one's

Primary word provider..

Powerful stuff...😄💥

As I Was Saying ...

by Susan Conde

 I have loved words since I was in grade school and won our vocabulary contests. It was sort of like a spelling bee but with definitions rather than spelling.  I would have not done well in spelling. Some things do not change. Then in 7th or 8th grade we had a wonderful English teacher who gave us lists of vocabulary to memorize and to then be tested on. I always got that coveted 100%. Even now I remember one of the words. It was “hackneyed”. A synonym she gave was “trite”. Recently I came across the word “sparple”. It means to deflect attention from one thing by exaggerating something else entirely. We see that activity quite often it seems. 

     The thing about words over which I despair is that they can be and, often are, weaponized. That saying “sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me” is entirely untrue. I know this  as many years ago I had a husband who could use words like a scalpel or a cudgel depending. It is incumbent on all of us  to pay attention to what we are saying to one another or writing in texts or emails. It seems people say the worst things in a “comments” section on social media posts. It’s SO easy to be cruel and disparaging when you are acting anonymously. 

     Here is a quote that to me sums up what I am trying to  say about the dual nature of words.

 “ I am by nature a dealer in words and words are the most powerful drug known to humanity.”  Rudyard Kipling.

He says it so simply and illustrates the concept so beautifully. Drugs can be harmful or drugs can be helpful. Words have the same power. We must choose wisely.