Recently, a very prominent person in today's political spectrum mentioned that, "Words don't matter." Now, I am not going to make this political or list reasons why that phrase should not have been the answer to a question on sexual abuse. I'm going to explain why, in fact, words matter and now more than ever in this day in age.
The way we communicate is through words. Think about it, everywhere we go, we are surrounded in a room that contains infinite amount of words one finds in Webster's Dictionary. When we text, we use the words we learn and phrases we make up. When we tweet, we express our thoughts in 140 characters or less. When we do sign language, the signal transcribes into a word that makes communication possible to the disabled. While I am stating obvious points, all these aspects have a great deal of impact on a person. The way a person formulates a sentence can take infinite routes if word choice is not considered.
They are what will shape us as a person. If we allow us to say stuff that we know can be offensive, will we be able to unite as one? Believe it or not, we have a platform many people don't, and I don't only mean it here in the Odyssey. Our words can spark a movement, a talk, and a moment of learning. For me, I believe words can educate people in ways you wouldn't expect. When one calls something by its wrong name, that word may trigger someone to spark a conversation on the context of that word or phrase. We end up learning from each other, agreeing to disagree, but nonetheless opening ourselves to the infinite ideas.
Even if words open ourselves to think about the once unthought of, it is important to remember words hurt people. Whether we are conscious or not, we can't expect everyone to put on a sad face when an offensive phrase or word is told to a person, indirectly or directly. Everyday, we unconsciously say things that go against someone's sexuality, religion, status, or race because it's the trend or the joke of the season. The person affected might smile and laugh, but inside, someone gets hurt and can emotionally damage someone. If you are ever found in this situation, don't be afraid to speak out your mind.
My career path is built around me knowing the impact I can have on a person with my words. To know that someone takes some guidance or pleasure with the way I construct a piece using the jargon I use helps me take out all the ideas I have bubbled up inside me (unhealthy I know). We can change the world and society with the manner in which we communicate with each other, so lets use the right words and be powerful.
