The power of our words to make a connection

November 1, 2007 · by Joanna Paterson · in

November can be a grey, dreich kind of month in Scotland and to be honest it’s normally my least favourite time of year.  This time round though I’m looking forward to the new month – because it gives me the opportunity to explore the way we can use our words, our writing, to make a connection.

The idea of connecting words is so full of possibility.

Connecting with people we’ve never met – and maybe never will.  Connecting with colleagues, customers, peers.  Weaving our words and ideas together with people on the other side of the word through the connecting power of blogging.

Writing with the possibility of making a connection with just one other person.  Writing that’s infused with the power that comes from that possibility – of making a difference to that one person who stumbles across your words.

It’s the power of words to make us – the writers – feel more connected inside.  Connected to our sense of place or to our sense of self.  Recognising the sound of our own voice.  Realising the power of our own words.

Of course it’s not just the words – it’s the intention behind them, the choices we make in the way that we write or whether we write at all.

You can choose to write to make a connection.  Small, simple gestures can make a big difference.  You know I got three short e-mails from fellow bloggers yesterday, responding to comments that I’d left them.  Just to say hello, or thanks, or I appreciated your comment, or you made my day.  And guess what – you made mine too.

And it’s the way other people’s words sometimes just jump out at us.  They sizzle, spark, connect.  They resonate, somehow.

Often it’s the plainest, the simplest of sentences that have the most powerful effect.

Sentences like these that I found yesterday – that spoke to me, that jumped out, that made a connection:

“The universe will not be thwarted”

“I hope that you fully live the story that you already are“

“Continue to leave your trail of breadcrumbs in the blogosphere because they are instances of you over time.“

That last one really spoke to me.  Instances of you over time.

And what I try and do when I read such words, well I try and find the time to thank the author, and quite often I quote back the particular sentence that has spoken to me in that way.  And in a way that I can’t quite explain – when that happens, when you show how much  you value the words of another writer – well the connection between us is strengthened, deepened, made personal.

It’s the magical power of words – and of the people who write them.  It’s part of the magic of being human.

And why I’m looking forward to November.

The words that spoke to me yesterday were from:

Change the World: Decide by Liz Strauss

Coming Attraction: Signature Story by David Zinger writing at Joyful Jubilant Learning

Why Ranking Does and Doesn’t Matter by The Idea Dude

The bloggers who spoke to me yesterday were Deb (Punctuality Rules), Vernon Lunn (The Idea Dude) and Toby Bloomberg (Diva Marketing).  Thank you for making the time to make the connection :-)

Photo credit: josef.stuefer at flickr