I love words. I love the study of them, I love playing with them like Legos, building worlds where happily-ever-afters exist, and kindness overcomes evil. I also believe that words can be powerful. Can’t you remember the first time you heard I love you, and believed it true? When words have cut you, can’t you remember the tone of voice and the exact wording used? It’s not only the big questions, or the life-altering words, that impact me and shape how I view the world: the little ones also do the same thing. Can you remember the sound of your child saying ma-ma or da-da and how it made magic balloons burst in your heart?

I’ve found that altering my definition of certain words can make an impact on how I view and respond to events. Hope for example doesn’t mean a wish, it is instead the anticipation or expectation of something positive happening. If I am anticipating or expecting something, then I have a certainty of it happening. Kind of like when I order from Amazon, I know it’s coming, I just have to wait for it to arrive. This definition gives me the inspiration to keep moving forward … because since I’m hoping for something uplifting to happen, keeping on puts me one step closer to the moment of positivity. I can say the same for negative words and how redefining them helped me heal.

So…

I also love games; do you? So, let’s play a game; let’s see what the first thing you think of is when you encounter a few words. I’ve put interactive word clouds below. You’re able to enter up to three words per link. I’ll keep it up for a few days, and then share the results and something extra. Word games are meaningful — and fun!

Word One:

Word Two:

Word Three

Word Four

Word Five

Word Six

Word Seven

Word Eight

Word Nine

Word Ten

Feel free to put thoughts on one, five or all of them; I look forward to seeing the responses!