“Words are powerful… they have the ability to create a moment and the strength to destroy it.”
You’ve probably all heard this saying once or twice before, but in this day and age when social media reigns supreme and our words have the potential to be seen by hundreds of thousands of people, this mantra has never been more important to acknowledge.
Words can lift you up or bring you down. They can make you feel joy or complete sorrow. They can bring love and peace to a situation or add chaos and confusion. And without the risk of sounding totally dramatic, they can comfort you or they can kill you (see how much more melodramatic I made that sentence sound just by my word selection… case in point).
With over 1 million words in the English language, we’re definitely not short of words to fire off, but so often when it comes to eloquently articulating the way we feel – particularly on the internet – we let our emotions take over and end up using them in all the wrong ways.
As a professional writer, some would argue I’m a tad bias on how powerful words can be, but it’s something we all seem to so easily forget and in one way or another, we’re all writers. Whether it’s a book, an email, a text message, or even a Facebook comment – the words you use to articulate your message can have a huge impact on the reader or receiver. Make sure you taste them before you spit them out, because what’s been said can’t be unsaid.
Let’s use our words to spread positivity and happiness instead of negativity and hate. Let’s use our words to make others laugh instead of make them cry. And finally, let’s use our words to bring each other up instead of tear each other down.
Words are one of the most loaded weapons you can use, make sure you use them safely and appropriately.
