Words R Us

I started a new editing project today.  Usually, I do a lot of self-editing, especially several times each morning when glitches appear on the screen for my blog posting.   

Occasionally, someone sends me something along with a "will-you-look-it-over" request or a "will-you-please-write" appeal.  

Sometimes I send these folks elsewhere if the project does not fit for that particular time.  Sometimes I say yes.  

This morning, after completing some light revisions in the first paragraph of my newest assignment,  I spent some time thinking about how important words are in my everyday life---those that spill from my mouth, those that land on paper/electronic clipboards, in emails or tweets or even those that others have written. 

Just minutes ago, I penned what seemed to be the right words for a book inscription to one of my son's colleagues.  

Simply signing my name did not seem adequate, so my subconscious guide went to work, considering who this person is, what connection I might have with him and what words might just make his day as a teacher. 

"Audience" rules writing and speaking.  

This morning I found the words, wrote them, signed my name, put a smiley face below my signature and closed the book, relishing a feeling of satisfaction.  

The words came easily this time.  

Yesterday afternoon when my son brought me the book, I simply set it on the kitchen island, knowing that my end-of-a-hot-day mind may not be functioning as well as it does in the early-morning hours.  I wanted to write something meaningful, and late afternoon, 95 degrees was not very stimulating. 

Good choice.

Sometimes---well, even more often than not---words need time.  Sometimes they're hiding deep within the recesses of our minds, and they refuse to come out when we first summon them to help us out.

I've noticed that a lot lately as I grow older.  

Words and names---naughty, evasive little creatures!

Recently, I spent nearly a week coming up with the best string of words possible for a short writing project.  The result: four paragraphs, about two sentences each.  

One whole week to write those words!  What's the deal anyway?

One whole week was spent because,  in this case, my four paragraphs will last a lifetime.  They're appearing on a rather permanent, somewhat public entity. 

Luckily, I don't spend a week to write my morning blog postings.  Time will not allow that.  My blog postings serve as a daily discipline for me to play with my words and to play with my thoughts in hopes of entertaining or informing somebody else. 

In yesterday's post, I felt a strong need to help out a family in dire need.  I don't have a lot of dollars to give away, but I do have words.  

And so, I figured that if I used my words effectively, maybe a lot of other people with a few dollars each might help fill the pot for those folks who lost their home in Texas.

I was glad to have the words yesterday.  I remember a similar time when a whole lot of folks threw in a few dollars each and a whole lot of other stuff to help our family get back on its feet.  We had also lost our home. 

The generosity was so overpowering that I was overwhelmed.  I felt helpless, wondering how we could ever repay all those generous souls.

My mother said, "Marianne, you have the gift of words.  Use it."  

So, I wrote a letter-to-the-editor in our local newspaper and tried very hard to extend our family's appreciation to every possible person who had helped us make it through that traumatic period in our lives.

I don't have enough fingers, toes, pounds, or even strands of hair to match the numbers of times words have functioned as an important tool in my day-to-day living.  

So, I won't even try.  

Still, it's fascinating--or maybe even scary--every so often to think of a life where words and the power to use them would be used up, no longer available. 

Unfathomable . . . iz that the right word?