I was homeless, thrilled to be invited to a party. I was the youngest there, not the only minor, but surely the least experienced of hanging out with people and talking about that odd cocktail of philosophy, politics, science and myth that young people bond over.
I don’t recall the idea, but I do remember proclaiming that if it was accepted it would bring about an entirely new paradigm. In my excitement I forgot that I had never said that word before.
“It will bring about an entirely new pair-red-dijim.”
Theresa was kind and cruel enough to correct me.
I’ve always been more well-read than well-spoken. A decade of internet-ing has given me the confidence to write despite my severe misgivings to do so. At some point I just realized that I was more comfortable at communicating than many folks.
At the same time, I’ve always had it in the back of my head to understand the words I use. For the world of me I don’t get how people can have such diverse vocabularies without just reading the dictionary. I do.
It is because of that acute and ever-present awareness that I observe the moment when a given word becomes useless to me.
Off the top of my head: paradigm, cloud computing, synergy, sustainability, green, potential, and traditional.
Tonight, I heard a word and it suddenly didn’t mean anything.
I used to try to empower people. Now I will just try to make myself more of the person I want to be, and try to change the world in a way I deem is better.
At least I’ve never pronounced it, “emp-po-wer”. 