Here’s To You Happiness

“I feel myself falling, I’m feeling happy now” ~ Take That

Or, as defined by my dictionary:

Happy (adj): feeling or expressing joy, causing joy or gladness, fortunate or lucky

 

I feel happy; happy in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. So here’s to all of you who helped get me here.

 

Happiness is:

Peace of mind

Good music

People who make you laugh

People who know what to do when you cry

Learning new things; about the world, about others, about yourself

Appreciating the beauty in life

A good pair of boots

Words; writing them, reading them, saying them

Laughter

Dancing

Being lucky

Friends

Understanding, knowing, and never doubting your own quality

Hope you’ve all got happiness in your life. If not, borrow some of mine. I have plenty to go around.

 

Princess

How Do You Want To Be Remembered?

“You’re going to be remembered for the things that you say and do” ~ Bugsy Malone

Or, as defined by my dictionary

Remembered (vb): Became aware of again, to be kept in mind

 

How do you want to be remembered? How do you want to be thought of? When people speak of you, remember you; what do you want them to say?

It feels like we live in a world that is quick to criticise, quick to heckle. The bandwagon of blame rolls out quickly with many keen to get a seat, leaving the voices of reason dwindling in the distance. It’s as though it is easier to blame anyone a finger can be pointed at for failings and misdemeanours rather than listen, to try to understand, to help.

And, frankly, I’ve had enough. I may never save the world (this is not a Hollywood blockbuster) and I’m unlikely to ever invent, create, or design something that will go down in the history books. However, what I can do is the little things; I can speak out for the voiceless or those who feel only able to whisper, I can lend a hand to those who need it as they try to make their way. And if I can make people smile and feel better as I do that then I’ll be pretty pleased with that.

We can be anyone we want to in our own minds. But it is our words and our actions that others will remember, that define us. We can make those words helpful and encouraging or hurtful and with malice. We can chose to act or sit on the sidelines; to be a part of something or to comment as life rolls on by.

Wanting to make people smile, wanting to make people feel better, wanting justice and fairness and, simply, niceness; these may be naive and whimsical things but I don’t and won’t ever see that as reason to stop.

How do you want to be remembered?

 

Princess

 

Words

“Words! Words! Words! I’m so sick of words!” ~ My Fair Lady

Or, as defined by my dictionary:

Word (n): the smallest single meaningful unit of speech or writing

 

Clearly, the song lyrics aren’t entirely apt as a girl who begins every blog post with a song lyric and a dictionary definition is more than a little fond of words. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t read or wasn’t fascinated by words. My parents and probably older siblings read to me when I was a baby. I can remember the first book my mum stopped reading to me when I was in bed and left me to read myself (Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson, if you’re curious).

My mum also instilled in me a great love of crosswords. There’s the ‘little crossword’ you know, the easy one. And then there’s the ‘big crossword’, which is the cryptic one. I love getting my head into the mindset of the cryptic one and every answer I get feels like a result to me. My crowning achievement was managing to get 7 or 8 in The Times without any assistance. (Yes, I know, I have a long way to go). But doing the little crossword is always fascinating as I have a passion for new words. If you have to look it up in the dictionary to find out what it means then so much the better for me. Especially when you get a history of the word; from Greek or Latin, for example.

Of course, when we’re young we all get told that “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Sadly anyone who has ever been bullied, insulted or verbally humiliated (and that’s everyone, right?) will know that’s not true. Words are incredibly powerful things. The ability to use and manipulate language to one’s own ends is one of the greatest powers we have.

The way the meaning of words change is also something that also interests me. The BBC carried an article on the changing meaning of the word ‘disgust’ here. Not a word I had previously contemplated but a prime example of how language evolves.

I used the word “discombobulated” on Twitter the other day. It is such a funny looking word I wondered about its etymology. I had several response, all of them different, but it appears to have turned up in the early 1800s, with a possible link to a coin and maybe stemming the word ‘bobbery’. It mainly means to discomfort. It’s also one of @LegalBizzle‘s favourite words, along with ‘cavil’ and ‘serendipitous’. Other Twitter favourtite words are ‘disingenuous’ (@Chairforce1) and ‘pettifoggery’ and ‘pandiculate’ (@InHouseHotshot). @StephenFry‘s favourite is apparently ‘plinth’.

Some of my favourite words are:

Manifesto – unusual, I know. It appears in this by Sultans of Ping and I’ve loved the word since first hearing that song.

Onomatopeia – no idea why. I hardly ever say it but I love the way the syllables roll round your mouth.

Gorgeous – again, I love the way this word feels as you say it.

Lieutenant – pronounced properly way, naturally.

Feckless – Favourite. Word. Ever. If I were to ever have to describe myself in one word, it would almost certainly be this.

So there you. A little ramble about words and language. Not quite sure where it’s going. Maybe my thoughts on this, like language itself, are constantly evolving? Do drop me a line about your thoughts on language & your favourite words on a comment box-shaped postcard.

 

Princess