falling in love...with words.

I am a lover of words. Truly, I am. I enjoy blogging for that very reason. My love for words far exceeds any words that I could ever say, though. I oftentimes get "in trouble" with my friends when they have me listen to new music because I don't listen to the beat or "music" of the song at all - the first time is always about the lyrics for me. The same thing goes for when I make them listen to a new song, I basically demand that they hear the lyrics & what the song is actually trying to say. If they aren't listening, we simply start the song over until they "convince" me that they've heard the words. :) I know, I'm a terrible friend/person. The truth is, they probably really have me fooled most of the time!
 During my high school career, I kept notebooks full of "collages" of words. Quotes, lyrics, phrases, excerpts from speeches, things people said, text messages, anything that caught my eye & made me think or related to me at that present time was on a sheet of paper squiggled into the collage.
 On the first day of my Senior year, we walked in to our English class, sat down, and our teacher began to speak abut her expectations for the year. She told us that she wanted us to "fall in love with words". At first, I thought that was completely impossible because there is no way to fall in love with a word, and words can only mean so much said by some people. Right? Right.
Glad we agree.
 The thing is, there have been many times through the last few years of my life when I wanted to fall in love with words that a person has said to me, believing they are true, injecting me with hope, taking them for all that they are and mean, analyze them to the core & be right about the outcome, but in reality -- sometimes those words leave us heartbroken, empty, and feeling alone. Sometimes words are built up to mean so much more than they actually do, and you are left to heal yourself, to fix yourself, to un-break yourself. It's sad, really, that such beautiful words can be broken down to nothing in our age in time, but it is happening.
 Now that my teacher said that to me, I am still understanding what "loving words" is truly about. I love words for the same reason that I hate them, if that makes any sense. Words give me hope. They allow me to believe. They inject me with hope. I take them for all they they are & mean, and I analyze them to the core. I long to be right about the outcome of most words said to me, especially coming from the mouthes of the folks who speak them.
 I don't believe we should love ALL words. I think that loving them is something you have to train yourself to do. You don't love words spoken by people who speak poorly of you or the things you believe in or stand behind. You don't love words people use in vulgar or offensive ways, but if you understand what my teacher meant about "falling in love with words", you will more than likely know which words to love - and which ones to leave alone.