Get Ready to Celebrate with the Gift of Words
I don’t know about you but getting into the right frame of mind, the right emotional state, can make a huge difference to my experience and enjoyment of celebrations. It’s the feelings that make all the difference – and are what we hold on to long after the event. The magical blend of anticipation, excitement and gratitude. The moments when we’re overwhelmed by our emotions - from profound thankfulness to exuberant delight.
And what I like best are the feelings just before a celebration gets going. It’s as if there are bubbles of possibility just waiting inside us – like the fizz in the champagne bottle, waiting for the cork to fly.
And as I thought about those feelings of anticipation ahead of a celebration – well I started to wonder how writing, and words, could help us to get ready. Because for me, writing changes the way that I feel. It changes my emotional state. Sometimes I can get those feelings of excitement, of wonder, of gratitude, of anticipation, of exuberant delight – just from the words on a page, my own, or someone else’s. And I realised that there were plenty ways that we can help get ourselves ready to celebrate – through the simple gift of words.
Here are some possibilities:
- Notice the words that other people gift you. Slow down enough to notice the positive words, the specific words that people use to describe you, to thank you, to notice and value you
- Take care with the words that you give to others. Take a few extra minutes to choose your words, to find just the right expression. It’s just like choosing a gift – and can often mean so much more.
- Be generous with your words. Take the time to write – a note, a card, an e-mail, a letter. Small acts of generosity can generate a powerful sense of well-being in the sender as well as the receiver!
- Be specific. Whether you’re writing for others or yourself – be specific with your language, pick the precise word that captures the essence of that person you treasure, that experience you want to capture, that moment you want to record.
- Write what you’re grateful for. Spend a few minutes each day writing down the things that you’re grateful for. However bad things are – there’s always one thing. And by writing even that one small thing – well it can shift your state, and help you to feel good, and grateful
- Switch off your negative words. What we write affects the way that we feel. The more time we spend on the good stuff the better we feel. Practice switching your language to more positive talk – especially when it’s about yourself. You’ll soon start to get the message.
- Connect to your intuition. Watch for words that give you a tingle, a shot of recognition and pleasure when you write them. They’re significant – they mean something to you, are valuable, somehow. Treasure them.
- Play with your words. Experiment with more celebratory language: words like funky, jazzy, exuberant. Notice how you feel better just by writing them? I can’t write the word jazzy without a wiggle and a smile.
- Tap into your celebrated memories. Write about some of the special times that you remember from the past – capture the detail of what happened, what you did, how you felt – notice how you’re starting to feel that way again as you write?
- Write the moment. Write about a moment, real or imagined, of wild, joyful, exuberant celebration. And capture the detail of how it feels in that moment: where you feel that mood of celebration, whether it’s the flush on your cheeks, the bubbles of excitement inside, or the quiet, insistent upward curl of your mouth as you start to smile the broadest of smiles…
Hmm. Blissful. I’m feeling so much better just writing this list!
Our words, our language, our writing – well for me, it’s a gift. And we can choose to use it – to give to others, and to give, most generously, to ourselves. To write our way into a celebratory frame of mind. To get ready to celebrate before any party. To learn how to feel good – not just for the holidays, but for the whole of the year.
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Welcome Joanna. I am so thrilled you have joined us as a contributor to The Calm Space, and with this article you’ve really hit the spot. Thanks for sharing YOUR gift - the gift of your words - with us.
Lately I have neglected writing in my gratitude journal. Not because I’m ungrateful, just busy I guess, a poor excuse. But that has now changed, thanks to you, Joanna, and this reminder of the gift of words.
Welcome to the crew Joanna.
Your words have brought fizz to my eyes and ignited thoughts in my head.
But as I read I was reminded of how beautiful I found the words of the lyrical love song that comes from the Old Testament in the Song of Songs.
I read from this at our son’s wedding. It’s beauty was there for those who’s ears were open but some didn’t understand or appreciate it.
Others were more touched by words about Friendship that were also read at the wedding. So words fizz and spark different people in different ways.
Thanks for the reminder!
Karen, thanks for the warmth of your welcome - and invitation. I am really delighted to have joined this community. Even though I’m a long way away as the crow flies (poor crow - imagine the journey!) I feel close to you all - through our shared words, and the sentiment that lies behind them.
Angela, I have to confess I haven’t been journalling so much recently, mainly because I have the pleasure of writing on a daily basis in other ways (mainly through blogging). And the gratitude finds a way of spilling out in my words one way or another
A journal is great though for those times when you want to reground or reconnect - or just enjoy the blissful feeling of gratitude - there’s nothing quite like it, is there?
Chris, thanks for your welcome. I feel the fizz in your words! It’s interesting what you say about the different words and different impacts at the wedding ceremony - I guess it’s because words resonate in different ways depending on the state, experience, emotion of the person who’s listening or reading. But connect they do.
Joanna
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