Playing with words: Making sense of what we mean

I’ve been troubling over the word settle. The good, the bad and the ugly connotations. The original meaning, my meaning, and the complex tangle of the commonly understood and culturally contested idea of what it means to settle – in life, on land, for the sake of resolve or the intent to impose in attitude or physical presence.

Because words matter, and mine is a vocation that calls upon them.

Their origin matters, being aware of the unspoken implications when we’re involved in an exchange matters. Many words, depending on how they are woven together and the intonation with which they are delivered, coupled with context, have the potential to harm as much as help, to confuse as much as clarify.

At the same time, to get hung up on the granularity can be stifling, can hold us back, can cause us to stumble in a way that can block or betray our efforts to understand and be understood. Getting stuck on meaning without questioning what’s really true beyond what we think we know can dis-empower us from using language in a way that serves.