In A Word

I love words.

Words like serendipity. The sound of it has a mystical quality. I first heard it when I heard the upbeat song, “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down.” It was sung by the The Serendipity Singers. Sometimes I just say serendipity out loud. It’s spiritual. It sounds good to me. Maybe if I say it often enough, good fortune will find me.

I like fortuitous. It makes me think of my rabbit’s foot. The one I lost when I was a boy. It was in the desert near my home. They built a Woolworths over the place where I lost it. The Woolworths is no longer. They went bankrupt some time back. They must not have found my rabbit’s foot.

Synchronicity has an intriguing sound to it. I got really familiar with this word when I read “The Celestine Prophecy,” a small book, by James Redfield. Since then, I do not readily dismiss chance occurrences as coincidences. I let them linger in my consciousness. I don’t want to miss their message.

I heard the word placid for the first

time in the 3rd grade. I don’t know why I remember it was 3rd grade; I just do. It sounded good. It says a lot without being noisy. Sometimes when I am anxious I think of it. It calms me, leaves me tranquil. Have you ever seen a picture postcard of Lake Placid, New York?

I like lavender. It has a softer feel for me than purple. Some words are good remedies for what ails you. When I have a stuffy nose, I think of lavender. When I hear it I think of spring and I smell crepe myrtle – even if it isn’t spring.

I like sub rosa, but I will not tell you why. (Some things must stay a secret).

I like the word affable. It sounds like laughable. It seems humorous to me. I think people who have a good sense of humor are affable. I like affable people. Who doesn’t?

I like to wander through the dictionary. When I wander, I wonder is there one life’s condition, one single feeling, one unique experience, one loyal act done for which there is not a single word that can say it exactly as we know or knew it?

3 Replies to “In A Word”

  1. The Celestine Prophecy. I bought it, read it, loved it. Your words have held me for awhile now. I must leave but I did subscribe. Thank you again for visiting my little world of poems. for it brought me here. I feel like I found a diamond in the sand. Good night.

  2. I’ll never forget the word ‘flabbergasted’. For the longest time I thought it was a synonym for ‘exhausted’ and I used it as such frequently. I always wondered why people gave me strange looks when I used it this way. Now I know… they must have been flabbergasted at my use of the word.

  3. I love this! Each description you offer of each word so clearly define its common definition to the reader. But more importantly and interestingly, each interpretation vividly describes its emotional connection to you. Well done!

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