Notes from the Commonplace Book: Words

Ode no.2

I don't know about you, but I find that my life feels just a bit flat when I'm not immersed in a book of some sort. Not that I must have my nose in the book at all times, but reading provides a certain texture and elevation to my days and the text, whether fiction or non-fiction, always expands my view of the world in unexpected ways. I am a lover of words....language provides food for my being and makes the work in the studio possible, providing the metaphor and the magic I draw from every day.

I was thrilled to see this book on my most recent trip to the public library in Vermillion. The author is the host of a radio show On Being that we have often listened to over the years. Her interviews with people from all walks of life in locations across the globe are fascinating and enlightening. I've brought out my commonplace book again, which I keep handy while reading, as there are many passages I've chosen to record there. In the chapter entitled Words, this passage struck me:

"I take it as an element of truth that words matter. This is so plain that we can ignore it a thousand times a day. The words we use shape how we understand ourselves, how we interpret the world, how we treat others. From Genesis to the aboriginal songlines of Australia, human beings have forever perceived that naming brings the essence of things into being. The ancient rabbis understood books, texts, the very letters of certain words as living, breathing entities. Words make worlds."

I started this post with an image of one of the recent pieces in a series of embroidered teabags....an homage to words, to the power of language and the magic unleashed in just a few lines of text....or a sentence....or in a word. May your spirits be lifted today by the magic of a simple set of words!