ADVERTISEMENT
Palawan Daily News
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • City
    • Provincial
    • National
    • Regional
  • Advertise
  • Online Radio
  • Opinion
  • Legal Section
  • Lifestyle
  • About the PDN
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Palawan Daily News
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • City
    • Provincial
    • National
    • Regional
  • Advertise
  • Online Radio
  • Opinion
  • Legal Section
  • Lifestyle
  • About the PDN
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Palawan Daily News
No Result
View All Result
Home Column

Language, and it’s power to shape reality

Hanna Camella Talabucon by Hanna Camella Talabucon
February 17, 2023
in Column
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
The Psychological Effects of Ghosting
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

 

I’m anything but a Biblical literalist, but I think the book of Genesis has a truly fascinating parable about the creative power of language.

RelatedPosts

Follow your dreams: empowering women to choose independence and career

Tensions in the West Philippine Sea: Palawan’s precarious position

Celebrating 125 years of Independency on Pag-asa Island: A testament to freedom and Filipino spirit

 

“And God said, ‘let there be light,’ and there was light.”

 

He then goes on to create lots of other things – by using words. In fact, the entire premise of this creation story is that God uses words and language to make things happen. This famous passage of the Bible repeats the phrase “and God said” no less than ten times.

 

We humans also have the ability to shape reality with our words. Intuitively we know it is self-defeating for someone to say, “I’ll never be able to do this.” It’s more powerful to say, “This might be possible for me.” And more powerful still to say, “Okay, I’m doing this now.”

 

Obviously, language isn’t the only tool for shaping reality, but it is an extremely important one. Since we humans are so enchanted by the future, we are also enchanted by words, which give us a gauzy foreshadowing of what will happen next.

 

This is why the pen is really mightier than the sword. The sword will kill a person in one stroke, but hurtful words linger in our minds and kill us every day. Words truly have the power to make or break people and relationships.

 

I will narrate a small incident from my childhood. I was about 8 years old at that time.

 

Growing up, I really had a hard time focusing on lectures at school. I’m a very talkative girl, which is the reason why I always get in trouble with teachers. So one time, in my English class, I was busy talking with my seatmate, and our English Teacher, Mrs. Boni called me out to compose one sentence.

 

I was off-guard and wasn’t paying any attention to what I recall, a lesson about basic subject and verb and how to use it in a sentence. I was left standing, thinking of anything I could say correctly. But before I could say anything, Mrs. Boni said; “This is why you shouldn’t be like Hanna. She always talks more than me and whenever I call her out in class she can only say the simplest sentences like ‘The girl is beautiful,’ or ‘The boy is handsome.”

 

The whole class laughed and I was left standing in embarrassment. I kept that memory fervently and I used it to improve my communication skills. Years went by, and now I have become a writer.

 

Well, Mrs. Boni passed away when I was in college but what I only wish is that she somehow knew that I became a writer by profession.

 

All because of that small interaction that happened between us in my third-grade English class.

 

Words have the power to make us or break us.

 

Physical wounds can heal through medication and our body’s natural process of healing injuries.

 

Remember, it is the strong mind and willpower that heals physical injuries. However, words spoken that hurt you stay inside your mind permanently.

 

These words keep echoing within us and make us feel restless and miserable about ourselves. Those emotions of anger, frustration, and being hurt must come out somehow.

 

Some people get angry or cry, and some share with their close friends or spouse how they feel, but there are many who do not have an outlet or someone close to hear them out and these are people who will sulk.

 

Whichever language you choose to communicate with people, there are words that you speak or write that will generate emotions that could be either positive or negative through either reading or hearing. It is amazing how our brain functions because these are ultimately just words – but they can either motivate you or devastate you.

 

The human brain reacts to these words which you have no control over. We like to hear good things about ourselves. But we often get to hear criticisms and words that offend us or hurt us.

 

Ever wondered why couples in love are the happiest? It is neither their good looks nor the touch that keeps them glued together, but it is those words they say to each other which make them feel good, and that positive feeling makes them want to spend more time with each other, until the point where that one unkind word is uttered which hurts either of them and things start falling apart.

 

Ever wondered why successful people say their daily affirmations? Because what you say to yourself will build the mood of your entire day.

 

Legendary lyricist, Javed Akhtar, in one of his Ted Talks delivered a speech that lingers in me from time to time.

 

It’s beautiful how he compares ‘words’ with bricks. Words are not thoughts. Words are like bricks. With bricks you build a house, if you have fewer bricks you end up building a smaller house.

 

We are living in a very fast-paced world. Communication, like everything else, has become quicker, and in our earnestness to communicate faster we have compromised on the depth.

 

He said that in a world full of revolutionary ideas, we are running short of words.

 

‘Words’ are our identity, they speak about our journey, our past, our travels, and our evolution.

 

Be it an article in a newspaper, a mother’s lullaby, a politician’s speech, love letters from your beloved, a complaint against someone, a protest call, or words we say out of anger, sadness, happiness, surprise, belonging, alienation or anything in the world, any feeling in the world, any emotion, any reaction until it is expressed in a word, it will always have a meaning for you.

 

So language is a very powerful thing. Words are extremely powerful. But by themselves, they are neither good nor bad. If we start loving words and understand their power, we would realize that everything that happens in the world is because of words.

Share10Tweet7
Previous Post

PCG strengthens maritime patrol in West Philippine Sea

Next Post

Statement of the Commission on Human Rights on the discovery of severed body parts in Bacolod City

Hanna Camella Talabucon

Hanna Camella Talabucon

Related Posts

Unmasking my truth: A personal journey during International Mental Health Awareness Month
Column

Follow your dreams: empowering women to choose independence and career

September 25, 2023
Tensions in the West Philippine Sea: Palawan’s precarious position
Column

Tensions in the West Philippine Sea: Palawan’s precarious position

August 12, 2023
Unmasking my truth: A personal journey during International Mental Health Awareness Month
Column

Celebrating 125 years of Independency on Pag-asa Island: A testament to freedom and Filipino spirit

June 14, 2023
Growth & Defensive Assets – A portfolio for the future
Column

Securing Your Future – The Key Benefits of Budgeting for Retirement in the Philippines

June 6, 2023
Dealing with pressures when you enter your 30’s
Column

Celebrating Love and Diversity: Honoring Pride Month as an Ally

June 1, 2023
Unmasking my truth: A personal journey during International Mental Health Awareness Month
Column

Unmasking my truth: A personal journey during International Mental Health Awareness Month

May 27, 2023
Next Post
Statement of the Commission on Human Rights on the discovery of severed body parts in Bacolod City

Statement of the Commission on Human Rights on the discovery of severed body parts in Bacolod City

Statement of the Commission on Human Rights on the discovery of severed body parts in Bacolod City

Statement of the Commission on Human Rights condemning the attack on the Abra Chapter President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines

Discussion about this post

Latest News

Mahigit dalawang drum na oil spill, nagkalat sa karagatan ng fish port ng PPC

Mahigit dalawang drum na oil spill, nagkalat sa karagatan ng fish port ng PPC

October 3, 2023
Lalaki, arestado sa bayan ng Balabac

Lalaki, arestado sa bayan ng Balabac

October 3, 2023
Palawan’s model municipalities honored at 2023 Local Legislative Awards

Palawan’s model municipalities honored at 2023 Local Legislative Awards

October 3, 2023
Kalayaan-Spratly Island breaks ground on modern sewage plant

Kalayaan-Spratly Island breaks ground on modern sewage plant

October 3, 2023
Congressman and environmental champion, Edward Solon Hagedorn, passes away at 76

Congressman and environmental champion, Edward Solon Hagedorn, passes away at 76

October 3, 2023

POPULAR NEWS

  • Igorot hunks plant tree seedlings in Yamang Bukid Farm

    Igorot hunks plant tree seedlings in Yamang Bukid Farm

    14572 shares
    Share 5829 Tweet 3643
  • Aktres na si Maja Salvador, sa Puerto Princesa inabutan ng quarantine

    10191 shares
    Share 4076 Tweet 2548
  • ‘Rizal is still relevant in a modern society’

    9806 shares
    Share 3922 Tweet 2452
  • Palawan ranks 2nd for 2020 Hottest Destination in the world

    9522 shares
    Share 3808 Tweet 2380
  • JCA to Danao: Hindi ka na-elect para magbuhat ng bigas

    6297 shares
    Share 2519 Tweet 1574
Palawan Daily News

© 2020 All Rights Reserved. Alpha Eight Publishing

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Advertise
  • Online Radio
  • Opinion
  • Legal Section
  • Lifestyle
  • About the PDN

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • City
    • Provincial
    • National
    • Regional
  • Advertise
  • Online Radio
  • Opinion
  • Legal Section
  • Lifestyle
  • About the PDN
    • Contact Us

© 2020 All Rights Reserved. Alpha Eight Publishing