Why Are We So Afraid Of Words?
- Brainz Magazine
- Jul 11, 2023
- 5 min read
Written by: Bronwen Sciortino, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Words. We use thousands of them every day. We use them when we talk, when we listen, when we read, when we write and when we speak. They’re a common, baseline part of our lives, and they are undoubtedly our greatest form of communication in the world.
They can be uplifting, enlightening, revealing and healing. But they can also come with a darker side and they can leave us feeling afraid, deflated, despairing and dejected.
They have the power to evoke the most extraordinary response within you, simply through the combination of words that are put together. The way they are spoken or sung affects the way you feel them in your heart and the combination determines the way they resonate with your soul.
The way that words are delivered provides perspective on the way that they are received. For example, your response to reading the words to your favourite song will probably be very different to the way you feel after hearing them sung or even spoken aloud.
When did our words get hijacked?
Over the years we’ve seen hundreds of words ‘taken over’ by marketing campaigns and used to evoke emotions within us that, in turn, trigger us into doing something.
That something might be purchasing a product, visiting a specific place, working with a particular person, or even focusing on a style of exercise, meditation, or way of being. Often, it’s been about making us devoted ‘followers’ of a particular person or business.
When marketing campaigns take words over, they change the meaning of those words for us and before we know it, we’ve forgotten the true and original meaning of them.
Let’s take an example: somewhere along the line ‘exercising’ became too hard. So, someone came up with the idea of calling the act of getting out and moving our bodies ‘movement’ instead. The logic behind this was that moving seemed less ‘hard’ than exercising, and that would make it easier for us to be motivated each day.
Another example is self-care. The wellness industry took over this term and turned taking care of yourself into going on expensive retreats or spending a day in a pricey day spa – things that take time and money to be able to do. But by embarking on this ‘word hijack’, the wellness industry moved people away – inadvertently or deliberately – from understanding that self-care is all the tiny, little things you do for yourself every day that help you to maintain good health and the ability to take care of yourself without the need for help from an external person or provider.
‘Mental health’ is another great example of words that have been taken over by marketing campaigns. Someone, somewhere decided that ‘mental health’ has a negative association and that we should instead refer to our ‘mental wellness’ instead. This is the perfect example of word hijacking, because ‘mental health’ says it all really – it doesn’t get clearer than wanting to be mentally healthy.
Your life experiences dictate your reaction to different words
Words are powerful because they evoke emotions.
How and what we have experienced in our lives stores memories in our sub-conscious mind. Memories surface when we experience the emotion attached to that memory in a similar situation later in our lives.
For example, you might love the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. You walk into a room and smell cookies baking and your senses go into overload. It’s not really the cookies that you’re attached to, it’s the emotions that you felt when you first smelled and then tasted the cookies that your memory returns to. Maybe you felt warm and cosy and loved. Or maybe you felt nourished and satiated. It’s always the emotion that your sub-conscious mind stores and then attaches to the situation.
We will always give words the power that we were taught when we were a child – until we learn that there are other ways to receive and use them.
If you were taught that you were always wrong, and that everything you did needed to be corrected, then you will likely receive words from others with a punishing reaction. You’ll likely take what someone says and head straight to berating and punishing yourself for the ‘wrongs’ that the words imply.
If you were taught that words are irrelevant and don’t need to be worried about, then you’ll likely receive words from others and ignore what they are trying to say.
The biggest issue isn’t words, it’s our connection to ourselves
Ultimately, words are what we use to communicate with ourselves (through our internal dialogue) and with the world.
For a long time, we’ve been stuck in a way of life that has been given to us by others when we were children. Most of us haven’t realized that we have the ability to decide what words mean to us, and how we will choose to use them in our own lives.
Because of this, we still allow others to dictate to us what words mean and which ones we can’t use anymore, and therefore how we have to live our lives.
But here’s the rub: words mean something different to each of us and therefore they get the power that we give them.
When we take a step back and consciously choose the meaning of the words we choose to be connected to ourselves which makes it much easier to make decisions that are more aligned with who we are.
The power is in your hands. What words will you take back for yourself today?
If you want some help getting started, there are also loads of tips and more information in the articles and videos in my FREE email series. Simply click here to start you on your way.
Bronwen Sciortino is a Simplicity Expert, Professional Speaker and an internationally renowned author. You can follow her at her website; Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Read more from Bronwen!
Bronwen Sciortino, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Bronwen Sciortino is an International Author and Simplicity Expert who spent almost two decades as an award-winning executive before experiencing a life changing event that forced her to stop and ask the question ‘What if there’s a better way to live?’
Embarking on a journey to answer this question, Bronwen developed a whole new way of living – one that teaches you to challenge the status quo and include the power of questions in everyday life.
Gaining international critical acclaim and 5-star awards for her books and online programs, Bronwen spends every day teaching people that there is an easy, practical and simple pathway to creating a healthy, happy AND highly successful life.
Sourced globally for media comment as an expert and working with corporate programs, conference platforms, retreats, professional mentoring and in the online environment, Bronwen teaches people how easy it is to live life very differently.
