Epitome…& other words I once loved

I wonder if my husband ever gets jealous.

I think some of my children do.

You see, I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last month staring at a glowing rectangle, my fingers and fingernails tapping in wild patterns across a dark keyboard with white letters, numbers, and codes painted across them.  Each time I tap a key, WORDS flow from my brain through my fingers and onto a large screen that sits in my kitchen at a desk.  The process has been transformative for me…but that story is for another day.

You see, I used to write quite a bit of poetry.  Poetry can be written quickly when inspiration strikes, recorded with relative speed, and even edited fairly quickly compared to something of, say, 170 pages or so.  I don’t think I’ve ever written a poem over a couple of pages.  And, considering only time, I could write a poem in the time I could write a grocery list…and no one would be the wiser.

Fiction is different for me.  I write pages upon pages, developing characters, rethinking dialogue, and editing.  Always editing.  And the time this past project has taken so far (and I’ve just begun editing)…well, let’s just say it’s taken a little longer than writing a grocery list.  🙂  But the lessons learned and the growth I’ve achieved in the past month have been worth the time commitment.

To me, WORDS ARE POWERFUL.  I live on them.  I breathe them in; I feel them with every fiber of my soul.  They speak to me.  When I watch a movie, the words expressed are what make the movie meaningful for me.  When I receive cards from friends, I read them repeatedly to feel the expression of their words.  When I listen to music, the words–even more than the music–speak to me.

As of late, I’ve been trying to teach the power of words to my children.  They are often flippant in their conversations and remarks to one another…but, I know (and try to actively teach them) that what they (and I) say to one another carries weight and power and can hang in a mind forever.  (Don’t you hold onto words and conversations–for good or ill–which make a nest in your brain that invades your present psyche every now and then?  I do.)

Anyway, in light of the power of words, I wanted to share a few that I think are fun to write (and say) in today’s post!  (If you don’t use them or know how to pronounce them, dictionary.com is a great resource and will also pronounce words for you…and they have an app!)

epitome

onomatopoeia

Terpsichore

and while we are talking Greek Muses, Calliope

juxtaposition

enamoured

iambic pentameter

polysyllabic, and

antidisestablishmentarianism.

You?