Language and Magic

Language is a tool that can be effective or dangerous. Sometimes a short phrase can give one a world or insight. For example: Don't make a big deal of something, deal with it. That conveys the difference between over-reacting or being pro-active. Another is: I see the glass as half full rather than half empty. There you have a optimistic versus a pessimistic mind set. Some linguists say we speak on two levels, that our meta language conveys much about our state of mind to the person who is willing to listen to it. Affirmations are phrases that are crafted for repetitious use to give a message to our sub-conscious to induce change. Begin to sharpen you use of and awareness of language by watching as you listen, see the colors that play across the face of the speaker, the positions of the arms, the shoulders, the whole body. As you speak you may find that you are saying things you don't mean by feeling tightness in your stomach or some other signal. The ancients knew this property of language, to influence, and that was the origin of spells. The Washington Post invites readers to create new words to say old things in better ways. Language changes means two things: words take on different meanings and words change people. Dare to improve your use of this tool by being more aware of its use.