The Potency of Words

Sitting in the winter sun, I was reading serenely. It was then I came across an extremely powerful sentence. “When you look for God, God is in the look of your eye.” It left me in an emotional chaos. I could feel the intensity of each and every word. And I realised at that moment, how impactful an intricately arranged set of words can be. It is true. Whether you’re reading a book, an article, the newspaper, watching a movie or even listening to a song, you come across this perfect combination of words which leaves you in deep contemplation.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Inversely, a well-crafted sentence can paint a vivid picture in your head. Let’s take up a few examples. Not from literature, but popular culture. The first one that comes to my mind is Game of Thrones. The show is full of witty one liners and profound life lessons. One that still haunts me is what was told to Jon Snow when he was confronted with a difficult choice. “Kill the boy, and let the man be born.” When you think about it, this is how we evolve, right? We gradually leave behind the juvenilities of a child and adopt the rationalities of a grown man. This sentence delivers the same idea in a brutally honest manner. No euphemisms. No sugar coating. It serves the truth in a cold platter. Another phrase that left me rather unsettled in my seat belonged to Petyr Baelish.

“Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, are given a chance to climb. They refuse, they cling to the realm or the gods or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.”   

It took me several minutes and rereads to understand this. It’s a strange analogy. Relating chaos to a ladder is weird, right? Or maybe not? We think of chaos as disorder and mayhem. But that’s the scarred side of the coin. There ought to be a fair side too. This is what’s discussed above. The fair side of chaos. The fact that before wreaking havoc it offers you an opportunity. It gives you a shot at glory. And if you fall, it gives you plenty of chances to rise again. But the ones who fail to try again, fail to climb the ladder, think of it as a pit and stay there imprisoned in a world of their own madness and turmoil, even when there’s a means to escape at their disposal. Another harsh reality explained brutally.

Let’s move over to a lighter side now. How about a song? I recently listened to Selena Gomez’s song called “Same Old Love.” There’s this line in the song that is hauntingly beautiful.

“You left in peace, left me in pieces.”

It is simple, relatable and heart breaking.  How elegantly the singer has conveyed her feelings using just the right permutation of words. There are countless other examples that glorify the potency of words. They’re out there waiting to be read, heard or seen. Just make sure you’re paying attention.

Let’s talk about stories now and the web of intrigue that they weave around us. They draw our curiosity to the maximum. Stories realise the potential of words profusely. They let us step into the shoes of someone else. They provide us with an opportunity to be anything and anyone. And how easily, these characters, which were someone else’s creations become a part of our lives. The ones we learn a lot from and most importantly the ones, we think about more than often. It is fascinating, isn’t it? Someone else’s fiction becomes our reality. This is how powerful words can be.

A story is a room full of hopes, dreams and endless possibilities. And when you walk through that room, you come out a little wiser and a more experienced version of yourself. And stories are all around us. They’re not just limited to books or movies or TV shows. They’re much more than that.  A song is a story. An act of dance portrays a story. A scar on the forehead, a dog bite mark, a blue smudge on your keyboard, a scribble on the back of your notebook, a well preserved piece of bubble wrap, the aroma of a sweat shirt, a faint memory of a rainy day, the safeguarded wrapper of a chocolate shared with someone, the secrets in a diary, the vague silhouette of a promise, a reason to leave, each of these things hides within itself, a story. Some may be trivial, others may be profound. But there is always a story. We just need to be good listeners to the words around us.

Why do I write? Even this has a story. If it wasn’t for a specific person intersecting my path at a specific point of time, I would’ve never gotten here.

So, each of us is a storyteller in our own ways. And the world around us, is a giant cradle of stories. Some easily deducible and some buried deep inside.

I hope after reading this, you walk out a little wiser, a little more experienced, a little more forgiving, a little more optimistic and a little more sensitive to the stories around us.