If you are going to do something, do it properly… or not at all.
This is a personal mantra that I swear and live by. Its nuances and relevance while resonating deeply now more than ever, has in some way, form or manner been echoing in the recesses of my being for as long as I can remember.
When I was young, my dad (who I lost before my 11th birthday) used to say “Don’t keep for tomorrow, that which you need to get done today”. Those words stayed with me through the years.
They didn’t always ring and resound true at moments where now that I think about it were certainly applicable. Nor did the aforesaid anchor me or help me set sail in some of the more perilous and darkest moments in my life. There were plenty of circumstances in which I felt all alone, where I felt lost, confused, emotionally bankrupt, psychologically crippled, bitter, resentful, and broken.
But those wise words were always there, buried in some deeper subconscious level. Glowing like kryptonite waiting to be unearthed. And sometimes… sometimes after certain storms in my life these words would come to me like the first sighs of a summer breeze and tickle my senses. Sometimes those words would traipse right into my thoughts before the preparation of some great event; a concert, theatre production, work pitch, corporate presentation, a public speech at a workshop, a book launch or exam.
Whenever my father’s phrase did echo somewhere, someplace, somehow, I would always pause and contemplate before I gave up on a particularly difficult task, before I was ready to postpone a commitment or haphazardly rallying my resolve to dive into something half-heartedly.
Words are like that, are they not?
They come to us in the most unexpected moments and whisper to us; and come what may when they do rise to the surface and light up like a firefly in the crux of an abyss – maybe that’s when the event and experience paves way for words to actually take true shape and form, to formulate and develop into something meaningful.
Perhaps as humans we ought to spend less time looking for reasons to justify our mistakes, errors and negativity and instead devote ourselves to time well or better spent in searching for meaning in our choices, circumstances and consequences in order to learn from our life experiences and events.
Words sometimes reveal their true essence, intricate layers and purpose as time unwinds, life unravels and experiences teach us lessons that aren’t always what we expect or desire.
When words are linked to our emotions, our feelings, thoughts and experiences they tend to take a very different life from what they used to be. We cannot merely eschew and escape their power, potency and permanence.
Consider how words can create or destroy, build or deconstruct, soothe or hurt, heal or scar, make or break, inspire or demoralise, antagonise or aggravate, elevate or encapsulate.
Words cannot be undone. Once said, some things remain in the existential ether of the environs and environments of our mortal coils, not easily disregarded, dispatched, discarded or dismissed.
Is it not true that sometimes something cruel and harsh once said, those stinging, wounding words cannot ever be easily forgotten or forgiven?
Actions speak louder than words
Well, this is also a truism in life. Our deeds do tell more or as much about a person as one’s words do. I feel (and I am certain I am not the only one) that all actions start from thoughts. All thoughts are internal dialogues and speeches we have with ourselves, internally.
The theatre of our imaginations may operate at a deeply primordial or primal level with imagery as we are mostly visual creatures. But these visuals and imagery would mean naught to us but meaningless symbols, shapes, graphs, maps and illustrations without having names, without having value or given purpose by addressing and acknowledging their function through a narrative.
What I am trying to say is that even the most visual person would connect that visual to a base level of comprehension of what that visual means, what it stands for, represents, symbolises, epitomises and exemplifies.
Ergo, it all starts somewhere, and that somewhere is a word, an identifiable sound, a designated term, a decipherable expression, etc.
Which is why words have so much importance, significance and value.
That which we name holds power.
This is part one of a two-part series. Read The Morning Brunch tomorrow for part two.
(The writer is the frontman and lyricist of Stigmata, a creative consultant and brand strategist by profession, a self-published author and poet, thespian, animal rescuer, podcaster, and fitness enthusiast)
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.