Alicia's Latest Blog: Word Power

I was watching this amazing show on Oprah's OWN network called"Master Class"with one of my all time favorite women in the world, Maya Angelou. (Wow! This show is good!)

First, I was thinking about what a GIFT a moment like that is, where you actually get to spend time with and hear the knowledge of someone as special and genius as Dr. Angelou... but I digress.

Then she started talking about words and their power. How words can get into your clothes, into your hair, creep inside the walls, until they start to be all over you and make you who you are. And that is why, she said, we must watch the words we speak and watch the words we allow to be spoken around us.

This struck me SO deeply because I am SUCH a believer in Word Power: the power that words have, both negatively and positively.

Because of this power, I always try to choose mine carefully. I think about how often people gossip about other people, and how everyone feeds on it like carnivores and then walk away, still feeling negative. Some people might rationalize that if they weren't the ones originating the gossip, than they had nothing to do with it. But what does it do to you, listening for a hour to a really nasty and judgmental conversation about someone, who’s just another human being, struggling in their lives like everyone else? Have you ever thought about that? Thought about the residue it leaves on you?

My friend, author and adviser, Linda Brierty, often speaks to this and I really feel and appreciate her thoughts. She always says,"Compassion is the key."

When you choose compassion, it washes away all the dark and dirty things that get stuck in our clothes, in our hair and inside our walls, negative things that make us less than the special, light-giving people we can be.

So, turn away from the dark and turn on your light, and just watch how many people you can affect - in a positive way. And if you think about it, that's a simple way to change the world. Or at the very least, YOUR world!

It's amazing the power we have within. So simple, yet so strong!

Here's to loving yourself enough!

With compassion,
AK

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