Swear Words
I confess that last week while at the Y, I dropped an F bomb. My exact words were, “Ahhh, F***, life is hard right now.” It wasn't loud, but I remember because the lady next to me opened her mouth a little and stared a bit as I forcefully closed my locker shut and stalked away.
I had just spent the past twenty minutes getting one child to karate class and then pleading with the other two to go to Y-Care so I could have one blessed hour to myself to burn off steam and stress run/walking around the track. Task A was easily accomplished. Task B involved tears, purchasing Doritos and a Rice Krispie treat from the vending machine, waiting while said treats were eaten, pacing back and forth between treat eating spot and Y-Care child care location (Were we going in, were we not? We did not know what we wanted!), waiting not so patiently while the Y-Care employees wrote down my children’s names one letter at a time because they couldn’t do it when I said all four or five letters in a row, and waving goodbye to the now happy children who seemed to have not a stress in the world. Not so much for their mother, thank you very much. Just as I was about to (finally!) get to work out I realized I had to pee, and then remembered I had left a backpack over by the snack eating couch. After all of that, I shoved four coats and one backpack in the locker and muttered my expletive.
And you know what? It made me feel better. Just like always, giving words to life, in this case, twenty minutes of frustration, a meaning. Words gave me a way to express and understand my life. And because this taboo word is a bit rebellious, it made saying it out loud feel even better. Because when life is being a little b****, fighting back with a well place F bomb makes me feel like I can battle back. Yeah life can be hard sometimes, but you know what? I got this. I can do it. F you public meltdown. I can handle you and the next one too.
Just like always, words saved my day.
So back to the shark. Where exactly does that fit in? I mean, there is a swear word in the meme… but does it have any other connection? It does. Sharks, like good words, move with a purpose. There is no idle lazing by for a shark. The complacent shark does not thrive. If it doesn’t hunt down what it wants, it might not even survive.
So it is for the writer as well. And as a writer, I must be purposeful with the words I choose to write and speak. Some days those words are not noteworthy or memorable. Some days we say words in a moment of frustration we know our parents would not be proud of. BUT, if we want to survive, or better yet, THRIVE in our careers, we need to be purposeful with our words. We need to hunt down the best one and put them together in a way that is meaningful and memorable. We need to do this on a consistent basis, each time, putting our best work out there… even on a Monday.
So on this Monday I urge you to be purposeful. With the words that you say, with the words you put into the world…