Words Fail Me

                                                 La Sagrada Familia-Barcelona, Spain.

Language is one of our great gifts. Not only can we, as humans, communicate now through more than grunts and gestures (well, most of us) but we can use words to express the most complex and profound thoughts and emotions, and even induce others to feel the same. Which is why I am officially suffering fatigue from the words "Awesome" and "Amazing" and asking them to be retired from public use. First of all, to inspire real awe an event or person needs to be overwhelming to the senses, as in the appearance of an angel or a first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. Calling someone's new platform sandals awesome implies they are about to give you a seizure, or at least a tingly, rapturous sensation. I have never had a shoe seizure myself so I can't say for sure. As for "Amazing" it comes from a medieval term meaning to confound or confuse. I can't remember when eating a brownie so confused me I forgot what day it was. Safe to say that "Amazing Grace" is an appropriate title for a song about pondering the 'awesomeness' of divine love and forgiveness. I think the Sistine Chapel also has bragging rights to use those words, and maybe the Taj Mahal. My husband recently was in Spain and he, who hates sightseeing and tourist attractions, had to say he was totally amazed at his tour of the awesome  Sagrada Familia Cathedral.
And speaking of the power of words, I have always loved poetry and its ability to elevate powerful emotions to a higher level of consciousness. For instance I could tell you "oh I don't like to go to that restaurant anymore. I once had my heart broken by a guy and we always ate there so it has sad memories. Let's go somewhere else". OR I could let Edna St. Vincent Millay express it much more profoundly in an excerpt from a sonnet:

         And entering with relief some quiet place
         Where never fell his foot or shone his face,
         I say: "There is no memory of him here",
         And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

The Bible is good for wonderful words, especially the King James Version. I know it's less accurate in translation but much more poetic. How powerful it is to say, instead of "sometimes I'm in a dark, scary mood and I need to feel someone looks out for me", something grand like "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Thou art with me..."
   We used to memorize poems in school, we used to WRITE poems in school, which is why I am quoting all this from heart (I like that term 'from heart' rather than 'from brain'). Words stay with you, words that often have another source but have become your own. Then you don't have to rely on trite exclamations, or dropping the F-word to fill in gaps. You can 'talk literary' as my friend, Jeri always encouraged, and impress or annoy those around you. That genius, Shakespeare, was put on this earth to show the beauty, the grandeur, the... the...the.... I have no words, the....uh... scrumptiousness of words. Who can express bitter despair like he can?

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Now THAT'S awesome!