Flair: Words

Musing…

“Lists are the butterfly nets that catch my fleeting thoughts...” ~ Betsy Cañas Garmon

“One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.” ~Hart Crane

Charise’s Turn:

I have a fondness for words, for the choice of words in speaking, writing, describing. This isn’t really about vocabulary; it’s about a feel for the flair of language. When I write a poem, the words have to agree with the experience conveyed or they fail to communicate, they loaf around on the page. It gets to be a pretty ruthless task to eliminate the loafers, but they will suck the life right out of a poem. A word speaks when it catches your attention, when it seduces you out of a stupor, when it promises new meaning.

On a recent trip to Italy – in addition to taking a plethora of photos – I took notes of words that cropped up over the course of a day’s meandering. The only reasoning behind the list is that these words offer possibilities of metaphors I hadn’t thought of, words like “fresco” and “lagoon”. In my wanderings through Verona, I found a bookbinding studio where a young artist makes miniature leather bound books on copper necklaces. The paper pages beckon for inspiration, and I knew this would be a birthday gift to delight my friend Lisa. As she contemplates what to inscribe on the tiny pages, I look forward to her choices. Knowing her, maybe some Rumi or some ruminating? Nothing like experiencing the treasure of words…

“Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen?” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Get Fired Up:  
How do words come alive for you? 
Make a note of words (or phrases) that catch your attention – you can use them for inspiration in your writing, journaling, art, business, website, etc.  Develop your unique flair for language.  

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