Sidenote: Happy Birthday to one of the best women I know, my friend Marla. You're easily one of my favourite people on earth and I love you an amount that I shouldn't admit aloud.
“For each person there is a sentence, a series of words, which has the power to destroy them.”
Word Wheel
English teacher Kaitlin Robbs created a vocabulary wheel that helps narrow down the exact word that best describes your feelings.
“Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.”
“People get all fouled up because they want the world to have meaning as if it were words. As if you had a meaning, as if you were a mere word, as if you were something that could be looked up in a dictionary. You are meaning.”
Keep A 'New Words' Document
For about ten years now, I've kept a New Words document on my desktop. If you need a further explanation of what that is (well, you shouldn't because it's embarrassingly self-explanatory) - it simply means that every time I come across a word I've never heard before (whether it's from reading something or hearing someone), I write it down in this Word document. And at the end of each month, I look up the meanings and put them all on flashcards so I can carry them around in my purse and go over them in any free daily moments that I have. I eventually throw out each word after I'm completely positive I won't forget its meaning.
I can't tell you how helpful I've found this. And maybe you're the type of person to hear a new word, look up its meaning, hold that information inside you immediately and move on with your life. I should wish to be so lucky. Anyway, it's a good idea if you have a bad memory. Or you just miss the general sense of school-like activities.
You can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
“As humans, we waste the shit out of our words. It’s sad. We use words like “awesome” and “wonderful” like they’re candy. It was awesome? Really? It inspired awe? It was wonderful? Are you serious? It was full of wonder? You use the word “amazing” to describe a goddamn sandwich at Wendy’s. What’s going to happen on your wedding day, or when your first child is born? How will you describe it? You already wasted “amazing” on a fucking sandwich.”