Lexophile's This I Believe

I feel like such a blogging copycat. I do. But I'm still a noob so I can get away with it.

My blogging buddy and inspiration, Sam, once again beat me to the punch for talking about something we're doing in English class. "This I Believe" essays. They basically state a very strong belief in something. The "something" is usually a value, like flexibility, but can sometimes be narrowed down to something more universal, like clothes.

Sam wrote and posted an essay stating her belief in the power of willpower. She really put herself into it with little anecdotes and did a lovely job. I'm posting my essay up now, too. Woo Hoo!!!!

I believe that words hold every power. They are used in a king's decree, they were etched into the stones Moses carried down the mountain. They are resources that never end. The thesaurus and the dictionary always seem to show me one more word I don't know.

I approach words and the majesty I believe they hold by seeing a story in which letters are the lock, words are the key, and behind the door of ignorance is enlightenment. Without words, or symbols for them, people have no way to truly express and explain about themelves.

I discovered the power and impact of words about a year ago. This was during a time where I was so hurt, angry, and betrayed by someone I considered a really good friend that, instead of talking, for awhile, I would cry. I cried in the bathroom, in the hall, and behind my locker door. Then I'd go home at the end of the day and write. I only had one theme, sadness and anger combined into a hideous rage, but it was enough to start.

With the time and freedom to find the write words, I admitted things to myself and my reader that I never had the courage to face. Once, the words I wrote were used against me, and I was so upset, but it didn't stop me. Nothing mattered as long as I could use MY words. This was my defense, and it kept getting longer. There are so many twists in a piece of writing, I didn't know if my defense was working, or if it was giving me backlash.

I faced my ex-friend and I told her everything I thought was horrible and hurtful about her person, she didn't listen to me then, but I believe she's come to realize being mean to people won't make them respect you more. I believe it was the biggest step I ever made as a writer and a person. And, through that, I re-learned how to animate my words and the page became a thorough confession, and a lovely one. Words and I went on and on.

I'm not the same person I was a year ago, but I continue to write. Snippets of stories in notebooks, poems on Word documents, about characters on sperate sheets of looseleaf, and extended thinking on my blog. But I'll never forget where I started.

Even if writing is not how you express yourself, per se, words are how you, we, all of us, explain and spread our own passions and beliefs.

* Lexophile= Lover of words!!