The metaphor of language
T was reading me a passage about language and the metaphor was used about animal sounds in the forest, where a bird takes flight that you don’t see but only hear, like words unspoken. It was such a beautiful metaphor. The power of language is so incredibly strong: a turn of tongue can excite a lover while it can hurt a friend – a misunderstanding can plant seeds of doubt or hope – the failure of language to express great love when all you have are ordinary words like “love, great, us,” while words like “mother and child, on bended knee, sunrise, puppy” stir warm emotions.
There is a new campaign underway targeting youths to end the phrase “That’s so gay.” The idea behind it is that language in and of itself is a stepping stone to behavior.
It’s a good example of the importance of understanding the power of your words, about how media does have the ability to work for the greater good, and also about how the times they are a changing. Would you have believed thirty years ago we’d have a black president, gay marriages, and a woman who might have been president?
Change is good.