SPELLINGS: THE SPIRIT OF WORDS

I was born to work with language. Raised in a bilingual home and studying languages in college, linguistics was my favorite college elective. Unraveling languages helped me create connections to myself and others.

For a while I held a job that required me to travel the world. I loved seeing how certain languages had connections. I felt so smart when I figured out that asansör in Turkish was “elevator” because of its similarity to the word elevator in most romance languages. Or how “potato” in Russian and German have a similar root. This excited me, and I always looked for where languages came together, even when they have different origins.

I then discovered the work of Masaru Emoto, who posited that our thoughts and our words can influence the composition of water. The same word in different languages had different crystal formations when studied too! This made sense to me because certain words felt better when I used them to express how I felt about a subject. Like how bashert (Yiddish) feels so much more powerful to explain “destiny” than the word destiny. Or, how the word saudade from Portuguese doesn’t translate into English because although it can be said to mean a feeling of longing or nostalgia, this description doesn’t carry the emotion released when a Portuguese speaker describes their feeling of saudade.

All these word connections had me thinking about my work as a coach while attending a business building conference.

Words Have Spirit

I came away from the conference believing that words create spells on our life. They hold energy. They carry spirit.

I created a series on Instagram called SPELLings where I break down words to their etymological origins and I coach around the spirit of each word so my audience can use words more powerfully in their life.

Each time I have shared a SPELLings word—woah—have I been surprised by the response! Now I want to share with you the top three words that have impacted me along this journey.

1. Vulnerability (n.) From Latin vulnerabilis (wound). It also possibly is related to vellere (to pick at, to tear). These days vulnerability is touted as a way of being that seems courageous, and wound sounds more painful than we are giving it credit for. Then I thought about how when we are wounded, we put a bandage on. If we leave the wounds covered for too long, the skin starts to deteriorate, and this can lead to infections. It’s not until you rip the bandage off and begin to air out the wound that it can truly heal. When we are standing in the power of vulnerability, we are not hiding from our wounds, we are sharing in order to give them space to breathe.

2. Decision (n.). From Latin de “off” + caedere “to cut”. This word carries a sense of a violent ending and the energetic weight of death (think about how “decide” has the same weight and suffix as homicide, patricide, suicide, etc.). What is the antidote to decisions? CHOICE (n.). From Proto-Indo-European (*geus) “to taste.” Think of going to an ice-cream shop where you get to sample all the flavors. You try as many as you can until you make a selection based on what fits you in that moment. Does that mean you will NEVER choose a different ice-cream flavor later in your life? No, of course not! When we approach selections with the mindset of trying things out, we keep our options open and selections become fun, not heavy, decisions.

3. Compassion (n.). From Latin com (with) + passion (suffering). When we are compassionate with others, we are not loving on them, but rather we are holding space for them while they suffer over whatever it is that is causing them pain . But think about it--when we become compassionate with ourselves, we allow our “selves” to feel our feels without guilt or judgement. It is in these moments of awareness where we can ride each wave of pain, learn what the experience is trying to teach us, and then rise upward.

Integrating this work with coaching has allowed my clients to catch themselves when using words that don’t serve them and instead use language to consciously create and attract in their lives.

I hope my word journey has inspired YOU to examine how you use words powerfully, and maybe not so powerfully. Words matter. So do you! I would love to hear what words are resonating with your healing journey.

SPELLings: The Spirit of Words