Semantics.

Originally posted on April 3, 2013 

I’m a word girl.  Sometimes I like definitions, clear boundaries.  And sometimes (because who would I be if there wasn’t a sometimes) I find them incredibly limiting, even debilitating.

I’ve been thinking about how to define people like us.  Folks who get punched in the gut with emotion, curve balls straight to the stomach.  Who laugh loudly, cry loudly, and hear praise and criticism with ears turned up.

Spirited is a word for kids like this, for kids like Isla.  It’s my duty – not only as her mother, but also as a woman in the world – to demonstrate healthy ways to handle the bigness.

And I think that starts with language.

So instead of difficult, too much, and intense, I’m thinking about words like determined, enthusiastic, and passionate.

Instead of too emotional, I’m choosing emotional transparency.

:::

Isn’t this fun?

What word boundaries would you like to see re-mapped?  Leave them in the comments, won’t you?

xxx,
*E