“Words are sacred. If you get the right ones in the right order you can nudge the world a little.”
Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia during WWII. His family fled the country when he was just a small child in fear of the imminent Nazi occupation. He began his work as a journalist at age 17, never having receiving a college education. He became known for his stylistic and ideological playful humor in his writing and thought of himself as a language nerd. While he felt that his writing was better suited for journalism, Tom ended up a successful British playwright. His themes have always centered around need for political or social change and freedom from censorship.<
What I appreciate about Tom’s writing is that he maintains emotional openness with a spark of humor and intellectual playfulness. I am reminded that you don’t always have to be so damn serious when attempting to create change the in the world. In fact, there are times when it is good to make light of dire circumstances otherwise, we may all be swallowed up into the darkness of a situation. His quote is a reminder that words have power and, as a writer, it is best to choose how to use that power. I choose to laugh and poke fun when we behave in a ridiculous manner, in an effort to re-focus on what is important and what is rather absurd.<
Sometimes, we get so focused on trivial matters like dumb yoga ads or who is “in” and who is “out” in the yoga community, we forget there is a bigger world out there that needs our energy to create life, rather than take from it.
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