The Best Thing to Say
For as long as I can remember words have held a special enchantment for me, I remember learning to read at a kidney shaped table dressed in a plaid jumper and saddle shoes. “See Spot run,” started a life long love affair with reading and language. I saw how words could inspire change and shape a generation. Words could be used to entice, scold, encourage and reassure. Words were power, power that I’ve always had confidence in. It’s tempting to believe that the right combination of words delivered the right way can transform a situation and they can. But silence also speaks volumes and I am learning that. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got came to me from a woman known only as Old Blonde. I was having trouble keeping my mouth shut, a fact that I’m sure that surprises no one who has known me for more then twenty minutes. I was involved in a situation where it was obvious even to me that anything...