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The difference between almost the right word and the right word

is the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt.

 

In conversation,

we should find ourselves choosing words as carefully and meticulously as the neurosurgeon wields the scalpel through a forest of glial cells and dendritic branches. Language is very powerful – and currently, the ignorant state of the human condition has all but butchered and pulverized the revered spoken word into a syllabic blur, a slurry of words, and a mere pile of limp lipped consonants longing for the sacred union in the form of a well-enunciated vowel.

It is critical and of the utmost importance to discuss the process of language.

Whether spoken, written, sung, or signed, it is the way we communicate and we literally paint the landscape of our experience with every articulated emanation. Since the advent of language, man has blossomed in intellect, yet simultaneously wilted in wisdom. There is no truth in a word. In a word, there is only an indication of potential. It’s like the finger pointing to the moon. If you’re looking at the finger, you can’t see the moon. When we eliminate words, we can see the moon.

EVERYTHING is a metaphor,

E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

The paradox is, there are absolutely no absolutes. No matter how many millions of people may agree with us, or how many times we say it, or how many times we read it, or see it, or think it – we can’t truly be certain of ANYTHING. We can sheepishly reside in the comfort of our groups and cozy up to the comfort of the collective agreement. However, the day will come when our dogmatic ideals crumble under the weight of their own pretenses. There is no white or black, only our conceptual interpretations make them so. We need to stop conceptualizing ourselves and one another and begin to see through unconditioned eyes. If we can globally resolve to do this, we won’t need police, or elections, or institutions, or authorities of any kind. It is our conceptualized egoic sense of selves that have gotten us into this mess with our nations, borders, governments, classes, races, preferences, and apparent disabilities. The solution is a radical recalibration of our perspectives relative to what we perceive as reality.

Language has allowed us to express our thoughts with precision and efficiency. It has also misled us into believing that we know what we are talking about. We think that because we slap a label onto something, a word, a verbal expression slathered in definition, that we know what it is. We don’t. We can’t possibly. Words and language are tools of limitation and reduction. Every word we utter is a symbol, a metaphor, an attempt to define the undefinable. We must look deeply into the words that have been chosen, study their definitions, and their origins. We must break them apart into syllables and understand the association of the synonyms within those syllables. Only then, through diligent etymological dissection, can we truly comprehend the expression that is attempting to be conveyed. Language is beautiful when you study it. We like to use metaphors and metaphorical phrases when communicating. However, the efficacy of our transmission and reception tends to blur through the muddled filters of our conditioned predispositions. I suggest, as I do when I read, to have a dictionary nearby, whether digital or analog, as to do your own homework while reading along.

“Way back when

we first began to use symbols to represent the events of the physical world, we found this such an ingenious device, that we became completely fascinated with it. And in ever so many different facets of life, we are living in a state of total confusion between
symbol and reality.”

– Alan Watts

If we look at the English language

as it is today, we can see that, once again, there is nothing new, only re-presentations in the form of new compositions. The English language, for the most part, is a reconstruction of syllables from variations of Greek and Latin dialects. Quite often, words get misconstrued, abused, and what I refer to as, diluted. We like to think that once we designate a word, a name, a label, a definition, or a diagnosis to something, we know what it is.

Just because we can see an enormous spherical fusion reactor, with its core burning at 26 million degrees Fahrenheit, 93 million miles away from the earth, with a radius of 432 thousand miles, and we label it with the word “sun”, does not mean we know what or why it is.

Words, some time ago, were respected for their power. People spoke with great care and caution, knowing their latent ability to cause a great effect. Today, as with most everything, respect has been replaced by utter laziness. Our regional accents, cultural butchering, and lack of understanding have left our use of language limp and lifeless. What we don’t realize, is that every word thought or spoken aloud, regardless of accent or enunciation, carries with it the ability to affect matter. Specifically, our own bodies, collectively our communities, and on a planetary scale, our words affect the weather.

Metaphors, metaphors, metaphors. If you dig deep enough, you will feel the truth within. It is to our advantage to see through all metaphors and intellectually cut through the fog of fluff and facade. To interpret, on a deeper level, what people are meaning to convey when they speak inaccurately or cryptically. The words they are using are often misleading and cloudy, causing us to passively giggle or sheepishly agree with mild confusion. We must cultivate the discipline of listening to develop unwavering attention, respect, and honor to the gift of true communication.

The next time you speak, watch every word you say. Because whether you agree with it or not, words are energy and every syllable that passes through your vocal cords is a vibrational expression of thought that shapes your reality.

Words cast spells, that’s why it’s called spelling

Enlightenment

Scroll through the following selections of linguistic clips and click on a title that interests you. Grab some NON-GMO popcorn and prepare to have your minds blown, your brains wrinkled, your projections polished, and to be newly empowered in the wisdom of your personal expression…