As a self-professed “word girl”, my love
affair with language dates back before training bras or being able to have a
whole can of soda to myself. My first
leadership role was that of the “Phonics Checker” in my second grade class.
Such a role spoke to my early advanced mastery of the subject and also afforded me
the opportunity to use the highly coveted red pen…while
the remainder of my ‘unworthy’ classmates continued to scribe their work with #2
pencils. Oh the POW-WAH!?! My love for language slowly grew and matured over
the years and moved from the successful completion of schoolwork assignments to
the daily way that I communicated and expressed myself to others. Around middle
school was when I began to realize the different ‘speak’ with which one can
communicate, dependent upon the setting of course. The way I talked to my
friends wasn’t necessarily the way I talked to my Teacher or any adult for that
matter. How I communicated with the boy who got on my nerves wasn’t at all like
my fumbling attempts to get the cute boy five lockers down from mine to notice
me.
Fast forward into high school and
college when making presentations and speaking in public became commonplace, my
love of language returned back to her roots…via purposefully placed ink on
paper. I became a writer…a communicator of thought….an artist of wit. So I
wrote my pieces. I performed my pieces. I continued to hone this craft of
communication. While writing sustained one part of me, the exhilaration that I
began to feel from reciprocated verbal exchange grew incessantly. Conversations
were no longer created equal and those who weren’t ‘running with the big dogs’
began to phase themselves out of my regular rotation, if you will. I sought out
those persons with which I could rattle off a litany of slang phrases then turn
right around and have a conversation so intellectual that if it was transcribed,
it could appear in the latest “Young, Black, and Getting It” Professional
Journal! I began to notice the art of
conversation, the ‘dance’ of the exchange.
And how that dance can quickly go from a smoothly choreographed Samba to
that one person going the wrong way in a room full of Electric Sliders!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve
been on a first date and almost made to feel like I needed to apologize for
speaking with subject/verb agreement and not necessarily having to insert “you
know what I’m saying” after each of my points!?! Now don’t get me wrong, I love
to interject a strong ‘where dey do dat at’ just as much as the next person ‘bout
that life’….but that’s not the only way I feel comfortable expressing
myself! Or how about attending a book club meeting and the first time you offer
a clearly well thought out contribution to the discussion, the first reaction
you get alludes to the college that you ‘must’ve gone to’ or the white people
that you ‘must work around.’ C’mon son!?! I mean, this IS a book club, right!?!
Since when did word usage and sentence structure in one instance denote my lack
of ability to ‘loosen up’ or speak in a more casual manner. We as people should
be multilayered and able to conduct ourselves in a variety of situations. Just
as I’m not afraid to try cultural cuisine that I haven’t tried before or
explore a street that I’ve never traveled down before (doors locked wit a full
tank of gas, mind you) or listen to a genre of music with which I may not be as
familiar…..I’m also not afraid of words! Well-organized, spelled, pronounced,
intended, meaningful, clarifying, emotional WORDS!
I welcome the dance of language like the
coveted ‘tap in’ to a double dutch session! Words are my first love….my first
internal eruption into outward expression. A great conversation, to me, is like
oxygen. I inhale each well-articulated syllable to be processed and
interpreted, thus enabling me to exhale thoughtful responses inspiring life,
love, and laughter. Aaaaahhh, that statement just felt good to construct, let
alone actually write! Conversing is indeed an art. And I’d like to think of
myself as an ever-evolving artiste! (Pronounced: –teeste of course) J
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