Words

I like good strong words that mean something.

~ Louisa May Alcott

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I think it is interesting (or scary is probably a better word) how we - as a culture - love some things and loathe others. Like guns. I thought of something the other day. I realized that when we say "trigger warnings" we are talking about words not about guns. That doesn't seem right to me.

I'm not anti-gun. And I'm certainly not anti-language. But in our society right now it's almost like you are expected to live at the extremes. You are pushed to live at the extremes. Hate guns. Hate words. Hate people. Hate ideas. Hate education. Hate something.

I believe (maybe because if I don't believe I get too sad) that most of us don't live at the extremes. We aren't primarily fueled by hate. We live in the middlespaces. We live in the gray areas. We live in search of connection and calm rather than in pursuit of confrontation and fear. I really hope so, at least.

That said, I'm no better than some. I live at the edges around some issues. Maybe I should try not to. My mom always said, "Hate is a strong word," and "You shouldn't say 'I hate...' something."

The thing is, I really do hate clowns. And dolls.