The Weight of Our Words

“Some words are elegant, some can wound and destroy, but all are written with the same letters.” – Paulo Coelho

The laughing ceased as I walked into the room, turning to piercing eyes and whispers hidden behind folders. I inhaled deeply, trying to hold back the tears stinging my eyes. I wouldn’t let them know how they injured me with their thinly veiled gossip.

I had been so proud to go pick up my copy of the literary magazine that had printed my first poem that day. My friends knew me by my constant flow of words. Whether notes folded into shapes that might pass for origami or poems scribbled on the back of a math assignment I half-paid attention to, my words were frequent and plentiful. Angst beyond my years and teenage over exaggerations characterized my writing back then but all emotions feel like they hold the power of life and death when you are fifteen, don’t they?

I had several teachers that encouraged me to turn my writing into something more than poetry about the boy I was currently obsessing over (this week). Even though the magazine only contained entries from our school, I was emboldened by what felt like a big accomplishment—until the whispers came.

It became apparent whom I had written the poem about when word quickly spread that my boyfriend of months had dumped me over the phone the weekend before. To his popular senior friends, my broken sophomore heart was the fodder of laughter by lockers. My words may have been juvenile, loftily speaking of what I had no business calling love in my naiveté, but they came from the tender places I hadn’t yet learned to hide, from a vulnerability I would thereafter conceal. My own words were used as a weapon against me, to bring shame.

My first publication—poisoned by wounds to an insecure little girl’s heart, like the first scars of youth that inspired them. Words meant for life brought a little piece of death.

***

Many scars and lost loves later, I scribbled words in haste at the end of a journal I had kept for over two years. I had filled it lovingly with the deepest desires of my heart and letters to give one day to the guy I believed I would marry. We had parted ways with tears but not anger, God taking us in different directions. But when he quickly launched into another relationship, that wounded girl from the hallways of my youth fought back in the way I had learned held power—with my words.

Words I had intended as a record of our relationship to be given to him in love were thrust at him as a weapon. I wanted to wound him the way he had wounded me by moving on so quickly and not honoring what I thought we’d had. I twisted something meant for good into a poison I wanted him to choke down. “Look what you destroyed,” I said with my vindictive act. I used my words against him, to bring shame.

My first adult relationship—poisoned by wounds to an insecure little girl’s heart, like the first scars of youth that inspired them. Words meant for life brought a little piece of death.

***

I have long since destroyed most of the journals of my youth and cringe when I read my early poetry. I’d like to say I didn’t know the power of words back then, that I was a foolhardy child. But I knew early on the way words could rescue or wreck, heal or destroy. I learned from the wounds inflicted on me how to fight back with my way with words. It would be years though before I would understand the full weight of the responsibility I had been given as a storyteller.

Today I pray before I put pen to page with the words of St. Francis “Lord, make me an instrument of peace.” I try (and often fail) to measure my words and think about the cost they carry, whether they have the potential to build up or tear down. Whether in a book, a passionate letter, or a hasty Facebook post, the words we read and write have power beyond the simple letters that form them.

We are all part of a grand story and we add our words to a history that outlives us, a record of the choices we make to love or hate. We all have a story to write with our lives. May it filled with words that heal, encourage, and empower. Whether millions read them or just one, whether a child is shaped by them or a love ignited by them—may we may we feel the weight of our stories and see the fruit of they bear when we choose the words of life.

“Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.” – Proverbs 18:21, The Message

Nicole T. Walters
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4 thoughts on “The Weight of Our Words

  1. What a reminder to use our words for peace, even in the quiet spaces of our journals. You have made me reconsider and wonder how my words – public and private, written and spoken – are being used for peace. Thanks for this, Nicole!

    • Oh thank you, friend. This was a hard one, admitting how I’ve used my own words for harm. But it’s something that God is working on me on constantly – that desire to be a peacemaker. xoxo

  2. Oh, Nicole, this is so good. I have not always used my words for good either, but I hope and pray that more often than not my words would help bring healing and encouragement. “We all have a story to write with our lives. May it filled with words that heal, encourage, and empower.” Amen! Blessings to you!

  3. Your walk down memory lane showed me we come from the same neighborhood when it comes to writing. Boys and broken hearts offer constant writing material when you’re a teenager. 🙂 Where you’re taking your writing is such a blessing though. Weighty words that bring peace. Yes!

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