TGIF ~ Words

Happy Friday ~ for many of us working peeps in the USA, this is a three-day weekend, so yay!

This week was better for me in the neck and head pain department, but I had a lot of insomnia. Both things, I think, were due to my avoidance of my special neck pillow, which for years helped with neck pain, but lately it seems to make it worse. I have to get used to regular squishy pillows again, but I keep waking up. It’s not so bad getting up early because I can write and schedule more blog posts, but then I get tired in the middle of the afternoon.

If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother, amirite?

I’ve been thinking a lot about words, not that I don’t always, but in particular I’ve been ruminating (moo) on words that fall in and out of favor. The other day at a meetup, someone used the phrase “navel gazing,” and half the room didn’t know what it meant. He asked if it was because he’s British, and I said no ~ I’ve always known what it meant. In fact, I used to have a funny blog tag “navel glazing” (kind of a donut joke), but I don’t now because I understand that tags are used for readers to find you (doh). Of course, I didn’t say that to the British guy because only bloggers find references to blog stuff interesting. No one else cares.

There’s also “stupid,” which seems like an innocuous word, but to parents it’s as bad as a curse word, and they don’t want you to use it around their children. Teachers don’t want it used in class. I guess it’s the new R-word. Kids will just come up with another way to insult each other though, whether for “playful” teasing or vicious harm. They always have, and they always will. I’m not saying it’s a good thing; it’s just reality. That whole “sticks and stones” motto that parents of a certain generation said was pretty much BS ~ we know now that words do hurt. They can tear you down, whether you’re a child or a spouse. Derogatory names are especially painful if a group of your peers hurls them at you repeatedly, and not just in person but also on social media. As we know, social media never sleeps. TG it wasn’t around when I was getting bullied as a little girl.

Back when I used dating sites (barf), there was a tagline I often put on my profile: “Let’s start a brand new story…” This is a line from the Bee Gees song “Words,” which I adore. The line wasn’t BS from me on those sites ~ I truly believed it was possible for two people to meet later in life and create their own love story despite all the baggage from their pasts. And it is possible ~ for other people ~ I have witnessed it. But it wasn’t in the cards for me.

Smile an everlasting smile
A smile can bring you near to me
Don’t ever let me find you down
‘Cause that would bring a tear to me

This world has lost its glory
Let’s start a brand new story now, my love
Right now, there’ll be no other time
And I can show you how, my love

Talk in everlasting words
And dedicate them all to me
And I will give you all my life
I’m here if you should call to me

You think that I don’t even mean
A single word I say
It’s only words and words are all I have
To take your heart away

The Brothers Gibb wrote this song and recorded it in 1967. It became a No. 1 hit in several countries, though it only reached 15 in the US. Enjoy!

This post is in response to Jim’s Thursday Inspiration, where he also shared a Bee Gees song.

~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.