The power of a single word.

My students would probably roll their eyes at my opening.


Words are power.


I say it all the time.  They have the power to heal, to love, to share, to encourage, to inspire, to contemplate.  They also have the power to hurt, to cause destruction, to build walls, and to isolate. 


Words are one of the most powerful tools - and weapons - that every human being has access to in life. 


I love to savor words, the images they create, try them out in new ways, to play with them like the toys I had as a child - carefully.  Intentionally.  After all there are ones that cause lasting scars.


Therefore, my words are rarely chosen in haste.  Last year I chose to focus on the word perspective.  It changed a lot of things for me.  Instead of giving in to the moment, I chose to look at things from a different angle, step back, allowing me the opportunity to find grace as well as celebrate joys.  It allowed me to see an angry child from the perspective of having an uncertain home situation - perhaps a shift in family, a potential move, a job loss - and gave me the opportunity to change lives instead of insist on my way.  Perspective provided many lessons along the way - it humbled me completely and allowed me to grow.


After all, we can choose to grow when we're humbled, or we can choose to stew.  Personally, I don't think stewing gets you far in life -- instead it causes you to become overcooked and burn.  (I know, it's a bad analogy . . . but it's the connotation in my mind.)  This is another lesson perspective showed me.  It's often a choice to grow.


I remember asking students, "I know you're devastated about ______ today (grade, friendship, etc.), but will it be important to you in ten years?  twenty?"  Often that helped them see it from a different angle; it diffused the situation.  It provided calm.  It soothed.  It worked for me as well -- allowing me to focus on the areas of my life that were truly important.


Alas, it's 2015, and it's time for a new word -- one that may not seem as comfortable at first, one that will teach me.  I've read so many blogs with great words --  intentional, inspirational, engage, listen, grow, etc.  I've been toying with all of them in my mind.  Each one has a unique and powerful statement.  I will use them all.  I look forward to seeing how each writer will change as a result of his/her word.  How the power of those words will work both beauty and opportunity into the lives of the author and those he/she touches. 


I wanted to be ALL the words - which sort of defeats the purpose of the activity.  Therefore I kept searching in my heart.  I prayed that the right word for me would pour from my fingertips.


It did.


This year my word will be spark. 


I love it . . . spark.


You see, I have goals to spark within myself as well as to spark others to achieve new goals.  I want this year to be less about me and more about how I can bring light to others.  How the darkness can be extinguished through the power of positive words. 


Like a candle, ignited by a single spark, can be shared to bring light to an entire room.


There are so many ideas behind the word - to encourage, to ignite, to inspire.  I cannot wait to see what paths it will lead me down. 


Because I'm confident there will be paths that I haven't traveled - bumpy, beautiful, scary, calming. 


I'm confident that spark has many lessons to teach me.  That it will provide new opportunities for teaching, learning, and growing.  Lessons that will echo in the minds of both me and my students for years to come.


Yes, words are powerful.  They should be savored and explored. 


Happy 2015.