Words...

  There are times when, despite my love of writing, words seem to become so shallow. Is it because we say too much, or not enough? In all the poetry, within all the songs, in all the stories and speeches...have we lost the meaning of what we're saying? Have such simple, powerful things such as words been over-used and over-emphasized? I can't help but think that so many words, so many expressive and powerful words, have been polluted and twisted into meaning something they were never created for. We've all heard, and we all know at least the first verse of the song "Joy to the World". But when we sing it, do we even think about what "Joy" actually means? Do we know how much feeling that word has been created to express? When I say the word "love", what do you think about? Does it strike anything deep and beyond expression in you, or do the thoughts of a lovely romance and a nice song come to mind? Do you really love chocolate, or do you just really like it? 

  Let's pull away from the most obvious words for a minute. If I were to call out "evil", what would you think of? Honestly. Can you actually pull together an exact meaning and feeling for that word? We live in a world and a society where things that are evil, are accepted as beautiful. Halloween rolls around and everyone hangs up skeletons, witches, and vampires. People long to see these things. Parents dress up there three year old as a witch and talk about how cute she looks. Whether you're a Christian, a Muslim, an Atheist, or anything else, you cannot deny that the word witch is associated with things such as "hag, she-devil, and sorceress". Whether you believe evil and sin exist in the world or that it's all just myth, why would you approve of something that symbolizes something so awful? What could possibly possess you to call it cute? It's simply this: words have lost their meaning. And we have lost ours...

These are the answers I believe most would give to each word without thinking:

Joy = happiness

Love = sexual romance

Evil = something bad

  So, I come back to one of my first questions: do we say too much, or not enough? I think, as confusing as it sounds, that we do both. We talk a great deal, but not usually about things that really matter. We use a great many deep words, but never think about what they actually mean. 

  And even now, who knows, maybe I'm talking away and making no sense to anyone but myself in my late night ramblings?!