To what length do our words reach? At what mountains do they stop, at what plains do they soften, at what caverns do they become lost? Every day, I ask myself, do my words matter? Do the things that I say, and how I say them, make a difference, even at all? After all, the structure of letters in the alphabet is arbitrary, the meanings in words assigned by man, based of different patterns of voice and control over the tongue. To what extent do the things we say, as a society, affect those around us, and impact the word we live in? Think, for only a moment, about “I love you”, whispered at a darkened, moonlit sky to a lover unknowing; ponder, the ripple of “together, we stand” on a nation divided deeply; reflect, on the words used to hurt, to maim, to injure, and to kill; the words use to create, destroy, justify, convict, uplift, and cut down. They are but spoken or written word. Merely the expulsion of air past skilled vocal cords, or strokes of a brush dipped in ink.
Yet, even with the erosion of time, those insignificant acts can bring the world to a screeching halt, drag markets to their knees, and leave hearts begging for forgiveness. Must we think about how we use these weapons entrusted to us? Should we exercise caution when raising our voices, or our pens, and saying these things? It would seem to some that have been hurt by words that the world would be better off if no one were to speak at all. Imagine a world where there are no lies, no misinterpretation, no backlash. However, one of the greatest language-masters, Shakespeare, penned, “O, but they say the tongues of dying men / Enforce attention like deep harmony: / Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain, / For they breathe truth that breathe their / words in pain. / He that no more must say is listen'd more. (Richard II, Act II). Why are these words so important that “dying men” do not “spend them in vain”? To the person that argues that their words don’t matter, who believes that the words “faggot”, “slut”, “sissy”, or “freak”, etc. carry no impact at all, I warn, put down your weapon. Sheath the sword. Your words bite like daggers, slashing their way into hearts. We do not use words in vain, nor should we use them to maim.
