I’ve been thinking about words, and the sticky, awesome or awful power they can exert over us.

What powerful words do you hang round your neck? Amulets against anxiety, lights in the dark, or millstones that pull you under? Do you wear words as ceremonial gold, proof of your inclusion in something bigger than yourself?

Mother, lover, tense, terse, boring, strong, harsh, foolish, old, dreamer.

The words, they’re free. Lightweight and ephemeral. But still, they can mark us for a lifetime. And if we hold too tightly to them we can go down with the ship.

Is it possible to let the words go, just be, a little bit lighter, for a moment?