Words are things

On my bedside table now, among the three books I am reading now are three journals. A gratitude journal, a dream/goal/plan journal, and my daily writing-in journal. Yeah, I love to journal as I’m crazy about words.

Writing, chronicling my life, dreams, and the things I am thankful for is a huge part of my life and since I’ve started speaking and doing events, I’ve become appreciative of the power and potency of the spoken word. There’s something that happens when we speak, vocalize words, and when writing them on paper.

Today while cleaning the house I listened to a video of Dave Chapelle and the late Maya Angelou. If you know these two, on the surface they would appear to be an odd duo, but the conversation was rich and filled with nuggets of wisdom sprinkled in between. Side note – I love Dave’s work. A decade later, his humor is still funny and very relevant. He is the best comedian EVER, followed by Redd Fox. My opinion. And Angelou – well, what can you say about her? Phenomenal, graceful, and full of the humility of wisdom. Someone you’d love to sit and have a convo with. A wise mother.

But I digress. As I lay in bed the night before I was thinking of the power of words. My mind was ablaze with last-minute planning and preparation for the Sisterhood In Motion conference I’m hosting on the 28th. I was also reflecting on how this event, a conference that will feature 10 women speakers, a panelist of 3 doctors, features on style, literacy, beauty and make, and more, was happening because of some words I let slip in a journaling workshop I held in June. In the workshop, I shared my heart on the need for a community where women could share, learn, empower, encourage each other, and find a safe space. It resonated with the attendees, and they too saw value in this community. A spark went off and those words I put out there, started to create life.

Imagine the tingly feeling I got the next morning as I listened in on the conversation between Angelou and Chapelle as I shifted furniture and mopped the floors. I actually dropped to mop when Angelou said:

I believe that a word is a thing. It is non-visible, inaudible only for the time it’s there. It hangs in the air. But I believe it is a thing. I believe it goes into the upholstery and into the rugs and into my hair, into my clothes, and finally even into my body. But I believe words are things. And I live on them.

I feel this way, too. Words are things. They can shape and transform our lives in so many ways. They can also be the spark for a conference, community, and movement that will empower, transform and create sisterhood among women. Yes. Indeed, words are things.

I wonder what would happen if you pen your words or spoke them out loud. The things that play on your mind, the things you carry within yourself? The things the Divine has laid on your heart? May you write your words and may you speak them boldly and as you do, may they become powerful things to you. Words are things. May our words be soft, sweet, positive, and life-giving.