To My Intrepid Readers,

You may be wondering what the point of this is. If you are, then I bid you an extra welcome, because I love interacting with people who are as curious as you. My hope for this space is that it will provide an opening for more curiosity in your life. 

Language, to me, is a fascinating concept. We have developed both sounds from our mouths and lines on pages that altogether construct an ability to communicate between different minds? What an amazing thing we humans are capable of. A thing that allows for bridges between people that can deliver information as simple as actionable commands, or as complex as abstract ideas. Through words, we preserve information, tell stories, and reach out for connection. Through words, we describe ourselves and the world around us. 

For all that words are the building blocks of these bridges between people, something I encounter often in both my personal life and my work as a counselor is the different kinds of weight and meaning words may hold for us, and how much this may get in the way of our efforts to hear or be heard by others. After all, if I say something to a friend and think I’m throwing them a softball, but to them it’s a brick, and they (understandably) panic, we will both walk away from the encounter confused about why the other person responded to us like that. 

Communicating, therefore, is not only an act of using language, but of understanding what weight that language holds for each of us. 

Every month, this blog series will be a space to deep dive into a specific word or phrase that I often find to be unexpected lead weights hauled around with us. By spending some time getting to know the words we carry, perhaps we can even identify some things we throw around to ourselves without realizing that they are so bruising. 

Here, we will meet language with curiosity, not to ask “Why do I keep calling myself this,” but to ask “What does this even mean?” I look forward to our opportunities to connect to ourselves and each other through these questions, and to stand with each of you, my brave, curious readers, as we turn our attention to the very building blocks of language that we use to build bridges of stories and connection in our lives. To ask, “How heavy is this block? Is it doing the job I want it to?”

Please know, as my one big caveat to our time together, that while I will deep dive into some personal stories I may know of what weight is under a word from either myself or clients I’ve worked with in the past, that these ideas will never be catch-all. I could no more present every possibility for what meaning a word may hold for someone than I could list off every species of tree off the top of my head. Thankfully, doing so isn’t what is important here- It’s to present the process of asking ourselves questions like “When I say tree, what kind am I picturing? If I talk to someone else, are we talking about the same tree?”

So, for the very first time, I leave you with this question. What words are you willing to hold? 

With Love,

Heather