This month’s challenge was to write a letter about peace, or send a letter out to peace, or imagine a letter coming back from peace or any and all variations of the above.
Well, I’ve interpreted this a little differently. It’s not a letter to peace, but letters of peace: an A-Z of peace-related words. Well, almost – I couldn’t find a x that I liked!
I always thought that ‘actions speak louder than words’ – that is, you can say you feel something, but if you don’t show that through your actions it has no meaning. There should be a follow-through of some sort.
But I also realise that words have power (which is lucky for a writer!).
Words can wound and heal, words can be barbed and get stuck inside you, or they can break through a wall you’ve built up. The problem with words is that we are often far more careless with them than we are with our actions. This is something that has cropped up in my writing in many ways, and is a strong tool for exploring relationships.
By choosing our words carefully, we can begin building peace into every communication we make.
A = accord
B = brotherhood
C = consideration
D = delight
E = enlightenment
F = friendship
G = goodwill
H = happiness
I = irenicism
J = joining
K = kindness
L = love
M = mindfulness
N = neighbourly
O = orderly
P = pacifist
Q = quietness
R = respectful
S = solidarity
T = tranquility
U = unity
V = value
W = wisdom
X =(e)xquisite
Y = yielding
Z = zen
Of course there are hundreds more, but everyone should choose words that have meaning to them. Words are the ingredients to make peace – and every cook needs space to use their inspiration!
I spent a while considering whether yielding and peace go together, but I decided that peaceful people judge when it is wise to yield and when to stand firm; being yielding isn’t the same as being walked over.
I’d be happy to see other words people feel are important to peace; please let me know your ideas in the comments!
Happy writing,
EJ
🙂
Here are some other blogs you may enjoy: