What is a word?

A word is nothing by itself.

A word is whatever meaning you give to it.

When you were born, you had no concept of words. You were taught to give meaning to words.

What if you were taught incorrectly?

Words are used to give meaning to things so that we can neatly categorize them in our minds. Take something simple like the word tree. Apparently, there are over 60,000 different kinds of trees, but when you see a tree, you just say or think tree and move on because it’s easier to think this way.

This might be okay for objects, but what about words that evoke emotions?

Take the word fair.

If I say, ‘She’s so fair,’ and if you have no idea who I’m talking about, what thought comes to mind?

Does she have a lighter skin tone or a just disposition?

Your answer will depend on the context. Yes, the context for how I use the phrase is important, but so is how you see the world.

Giving too much or too little weight to people’s words will dictate how you feel about them and yourself.

Ultimately, you get to decide how important words are and how much power you give them. Don’t forget that every word you say and hear was made up by someone at some point in time so they could categorize their own personal situation in their mind.

A word meant nothing until someone said it did.

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