My buddy Canadian Greg has offered a lot of sage advice over
the years, but few conversations have stuck with me more than when he shared
his philosophy on the power of words. For readers who may not know Canadian Greg, he is an extrovert’s
extrovert. He’s a storyteller at
heart and has rarely met a stranger.
Family and friends often tease Greg about his prodigious
abilities to start and hold conversations with total strangers and
life-long-friends alike. This
ability also makes Greg a phenomenal businessman and leader in his field. Despite
all of the conversations he participates in, Greg maintains a tremendous
respect for the power of words.
On some level, Greg acknowledges that between the words
involved in formal and informal conversations (not to mention contracts,
business e-mails, and client letters) millions of dollars and the livelihoods
of dozens of families depend on him and the words he chooses to use and not to
use.
I still talk a lot.
So does Greg. But ever
since that conversation, I’ve tried to be more mindful of what I say and how I
say it. Writing, like sculpting,
is often best approached as a process of refinement. Distilling words down to their most elegant form. Words represent ideas, and inspire action,
giving each syllable a real world power to influence lives.
More than any English Professor, Debate Coach, or professional mentor, I have learned some of my most important lessons about the power of words from farmers, grandma's, EMTs, secretary's, Firefighters, nurses, outdoorsmen, mechanics, and housewives. Wisdom, when she comes, takes the least expected and most effective path.
This post is the first
in a series that will focus on the power of words, literature, writing, reading
and general observations on the language that we use and misuse on a regular
basis.
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