‘Think and Wonder’: What’s the real power of words?
Dr. Suess once wrote, “Think and wonder, Wonder and think.” In this post, I would like us to probe a little on our capacity to ‘think’ and ‘wonder’.
Dr. Seuss is a pen name for the 20th century American writer by the name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. He was a very prolific writer and illustrator of children’s books, with over 60 titles to his name. And each of his books continues to bring joy into the lives of those who read them.
One of the things that Dr. Suess is known for is the playful use of words; especially his way of using simple sounding words that rhyme. Some ordinarily everyday words like ‘foot’ and ‘feet’, ‘cat’ and ‘hat’, and others, well, rather extraordinary sounding words that had not entered our vocabulary like “glupitty-glup”, “schloppity-schlopp” or “zizzer-zazzer-zuzz”. Did you know Dr Seuss created the word “nerd” back in 1950 to describe one of the imaginary creatures from his book entitled If I ran the zoo.
Just listen to this rhyme from Dr. Seuss and see how you feel;
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go. …
OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!”
There’s something playful in the way Dr Seuss creates his rhyme. Reading the works by Dr Seuss helps us explore how words that we read, sing to, and even say to ourselves can affect our body.
Are there any words that can be bad for us? Are there words that can be good for us?
Psychologists and neuroscientists tell us that our bodies respond to the words that we think of. Some words can make us feel good when we think of them, and some words can make us feel bad when we think of them. In other words, we can train our body to feel good, and likewise, we can train our body to feel relaxed, excited, and happiness, through the choice of words.
Authors’ of the book Words can change your brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman tell us “ a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” In other words, the brain can be triggered to make us feel relaxed or stressed by words alone through its neuroplasticity.
What is neuroplasticity? In a nutshell, neuroplasticity is the brain’s capacity to continuously re-invent itself.
What does that mean? How does a brain reinvent itself?
In simple terms, the brain can re-wire itself — for better or for worse — based on the thinking that we do. This rewiring in the brain can create new pathways for the message to flow from our brain to our body, which helps us feel an emotion. Every moment of our lives, we can shed the old pathways for a new one, by choice, a little bit of effort, and some repetition of action. Imagine that!
In fact, studies show that when we concentrate on “positive and optimistic words”, some reactions happen in the frontal lobe of our brain — the part that’s just behind our forehead. In the book Words can change your brain the authors tell us that certain words have a positive effect on our body. They bring us “peace, serenity and joy” and when we focus on them regularly they have been shown to elevate the feeling of alertness and relaxation. In other words, the longer you focus on the positive and optimistic words, the more you begin to affect other areas of your brain which subsequently affects your body and face. You might begin to smile just thinking of these words, and the emotional reaction from those words leave an imprint in your body. Every time you think of the same words, it ignites a similar response in your body. That’s how you rewire your brain. That’s how neuroplasticity works in your brain.
So which words do that for you? Does the word “NO! Cannot! You are not good enough!” bring joy to you? Of course not, right?
We need to figure out what words bring joy to us. What are some of your favorite words?
In the song from the movie The Sound of Music when the children were frightened by the sound of thunder during a storm, Maria, their nanny sings this rhyme to cheer them up. Sing along if you know it:
“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things.”
The song is called “My Favourite things”. Were there any on the list that was your favorites too? Did the song and the list make you think of your own favorite things? Did it make you smile?
Take some time today to sit with your journal and write down a list of your favorite things. You might even make it into a rhyme. Be playful and see how good you feel!
Remember this, words can impact our mind.
Let’s choose to use words that bring more joy, positivity, and calmness into our lives. If we can do that for ourselves, we are in fact telling ourselves, we are worthy, worthy to be loved, worthy to be respected, worthy to live a life full of possibilities. It’s like being a “truer” version of you.
On that note, let’s end with a rhyme by Dr. Suess:
“Today you are you. That is
truer than true!
There is no one alive…
…who is you-er than you!
Shout loud,
“I am lucky to be what I am!
Thank goodness I’m not just a clam
or a ham or a dusty old jar
of sour gooseberry jam!
I am what I am!
That’s a great thing to be!
If I say so myself,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”
Imagine waking up to a truer version of you every single day. Now that’s a celebration in itself!
