I think the answer for many to my above title/question would be “yeah, I guess” but I’d also say that many times we don’t even realize when we are taking words for granted.
I have a presentation this week and one of my boss’ bosses speaks English as a second language. My husband does as well, although in both cases, most people would never guess this because neither of them really have an accent. So back to my boss’ boss. In short, I’ve been thinking a lot about words this week and how I want to present my case as my boss’ boss is very conscious about every word used, something I think that I as a native speaker of English may not be. In other words, I need to be very careful about how I present and what I say as every bit of it will be scrutinized. As such, it got me thinking about how many times we talk just to talk and don’t necessarily pay much attention to what we are saying. All of you know one or more of these people as they are usually the one in a group that you want to be quiet.
This got me thinking about songs as well. How many times have you hummed along to a song that has horrible words only to be captivated by their rhythm? I used to do that a lot as a kid. For some reason as I’ve aged, the words have become more important to me. I love groups like Mana (Spanish rock), The Beatles, U2, Dave Matthews Band, Mumford & Sons, etc. who have great lyrics that are full of meaning. To me, the words in many of these bands’ songs inspire and that is power.
What about you all, do you think about what you say or what you write? Do you take words for granted or is everything measured?
Happy writing this week and a bit of homework… aim to inspire.
Nights of Passion 