Words Create Worlds

“Words create worlds.”  – Attributed to many

I believe words matter.   Because of that, one of my traditions in the New Year that I would like to invite you to be part of is to select a word or words that will help serve as a guide for the upcoming year.  For me, these often “made-up” words are symbols that become an important compass to help keep me focused on my stated priorities.  They help me create my world.   

Indeed, words are symbols for thoughts and ideas, and no matter what language you speak, we personalize them according to the meaning we associate with them.  For example, I have shared in a previous blog that the Chinese character word for “crisis,” which is pronounced “wei-ji,” is composed of two characters: “wei” meaning “danger” and “ji” meaning “opportunity/critical point.”   As we have recently seen, the word “crisis” is being used extensively in our country, but depending on your perspective, it has very different meaning, and that differing meaning has the potential to create a very different world. 

Back to my “words for the year.”  In the past 2 years, my self-created words have been “zilience” and “reslove.”  They became powerful symbols that helped frame and inform those years as well as provide inspiration and motivation.  For this year, one of my words is “cor” (heart).  My intention is to put “heart” into my “cor-nection” with others, in my “cor-munication”, while expressing “cor-mpassion,” and even while doing my part to help us navigate through our present “cor-rises.” 

How about you?  What might be your word or words to help you frame the year?  Consider picking one or more and sharing their meaning with those close to you.  Embracing a common meaning will help strengthen your “cor-munity,” and become a daily symbolic reminder that our words do, indeed, create our worlds.  It is then up to us to ask – what kind of world do we desire to create together?  Let’s choose wisely ….