Sticks & Stones

The way we use words is important, right? Your kindergarten teacher was wrong in telling you that words can never hurt you. Words are powerful, impactful, defining… you get the picture. So the idea is to look into your daily transcripts, find some words that you might be throwing around willy-nilly, and consider changing them.

For me, the phrase I'm tackling is "I feel." It usually precedes some sort of expression of thought or emotion. Now, following this phrase with something emotional or an actual feeling makes sense. But here's the odd thing: I've found myself using "I feel" to start a sentence that describes a thought or opinion I have. As in, "I feel like we don't want to go that route." Or, "I feel like that ad could have a little more white space to it." See, because it's at work that this phrase particularly bothers me. Shouldn't my thoughts and opinions be rooted in critical thought, as opposed to emotional reactions?

So now, every time I speak to express something, I will consider if it's an expression of a thought. If it is, I'll start my sentence with "I think" or something similar. If it's an expression of emotion, then I'll start my sentence with "I feel."

And I'm not sure, but I think (see? right there, I did it right there!) the result will be twofold: I'll express myself more clearly, AND I will be more conscious of whether a statement should come from a critical place or an emotional place. It could actually work backwards, changing the place from which my statements originate.

So find some words in your life that you might be letting slip in unnoticed, and notice them.


ps- This is my inaugural Æ post, thanks to messenger & noweverybody for the letting me add a few drops to the bucket!