Regroup!
I think it’s time to regroup and explain to you all what this blog is all about.
From reading previous posts, you may think that it is all about my personal life, that seems to focus upon death, but… it’s not. The main focus is talking about words and their meanings (through my semi-stream of consciousness approach, thanks Virginia Woolf). In our everyday lives we put together this amalgam of terms to create some greater meaning, even if it’s just “I’m hungry.” Sometimes a word alone can carry meaning but in the case of “I’m” and “hungry,” separately really have no meaning. Together, they express a want or need. However important that last sentence is, my blog focuses on more controversial and unseemingly eclectic terms, such as Life, Death, Serendipity and Synchronicity.
These words on their own already carry a sort of connotation. Death, for instance. Everyone immediately thinks darkness, sadness, and fear. However, if we were, as a society, to change the meaning through different approaches maybe we wouldn’t be so sad or scared, since it is inevitable anyway.
There are sayings that have stood the test of time, and most of the time we use them with second hand nature. When you stop to truly think about how this saying or phrase came to fruition, though, it speaks to what our society has deemed acceptable. Only when we address them for what they truly are do we realize what effect we allow them to have.
The saying “Boys will be boys” was widely accepted as truth. A boy would pull on a girls braid, “welp, boys will be boys” and thus followed by no consequence. Today, in the most extreme cases we see the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment allegations coming to the forefront of news. This is a prime example of how society is making a shift. It’s not to say that it will be easy but it is a testament to making a change.
Change. A powerful word; to those who either want or need it and those who greatly oppose to it. There is a reason why most of us know the term “Be the Change you wish to see in the world” (Ghandi). Politicians use this term more than regularly to convey a message that their constituents are heard, and usually it works, Republicans or Democrats, all the same.
There are few words that cross international borders and translate (literally and figuratively) in the same sense. It is important to define and communicate to fill in the gaps. Thinking about it, this needs to happen inter-linguistically as well. Within the English language we need to define terms more precisely and communicate more thoroughly. “Communication is key.” Another popular saying, and maybe for a good reason!
Although words have the power to influence us, it’s the power we give to them. This must be an active decision though. In economics, a healthy market is one that cultivates a multitude of consumers and producers. Communication and involvement crosses all fields, whether it is linguistics, economics, or plain society.
