The Power of Words

Book and notebook for the workshop!

Before I started chemotherapy in November 2023, I took a workshop to stay healthy and keep a positive mindset. The teacher took a lot of time to talk about the healing power of positivity - especially during challenging times. One of the exercises that we were taught and encouraged to use on a regular basis was to write and then say self-affirmations. I found it very helpful during that time.

Once I finished chemo, I did not keep up this exercise, but I often think about how it was so helpful. Anyways, an independent bookstore on Long Island was hosting a workshop with an area writer about her book The Language of Self-Affirmation: A Magical Practice of Manifesting Personal Power. I decided to sign-up and attend - thinking that I would love to hear how she uses this practice in her life and how she wrote about it in her book.

In her talk as well as in the very beginning of the book, she discusses the power of words and how words can shift energy. She took it a step further and said that words are our superpower - so we need to be careful about the words we say to ourself.

I have thought about this since I attended her workshop and there is so much truth to these statements. I dropped my daughter at dance yesterday and overheard another kid calling herself “stupid.” As we are teaching literacy, how can we teach our students to pay careful attention to the words that they use? I often think about this in the context of books. As I am reading with my kids, I will tell them that I like the words the author decided to use - calling out the power that words hold.

I’m curious if you have noticed the words that your kids or your students use when they speak. If you do, what do you notice? I think it’s something worth paying attention to.