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Words, words, words

It occurred to me while watching "Dead Poets Society" last night, that words play an important role in love.

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world." and "Language was developed for one endeavor ... to woo women." John Keating

Now he is a character in a movie, but a brilliant movie. I love that movie so much that I have Siri on my iPhone call me "O Captain, my Captain." But the brilliance of that movie is in its inspiration. Mr. Keating inspires the boys to suck the marrow out of life; to study poetry, not because it is cute, but because we are members of the human race. "And the human race is filled with passion ... poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

We stay alive for love. The word "Love" in english is used to represent all forms of love, but the Italians and Greeks have at least five words for love. I am sure that we have more words for love, but if you look in the thesaurus (or thesaurus.com) you will be disappointed with your findings. But it is not the word love that is so important. It is the meanings of all those kinds of love. Perhaps we don't need to categorize the different kinds of love, but recognize that they are all related. The similarities might be more important than the differences.

One piece of advice we were given, as all newly weds are given was to say, "I love you, " everyday to each other. So we do. We try to at least. Some days it sounds like "hello" and sometimes it sounds like reassurance or even the club password. But it means something. The words themselves mean something. I am convinced that they themselves have power. Like bread, they are sustenance. By putting emotion behind those words, you add to that bread. Sometimes you make garlic bread and sometimes its a sandwich. But the words are the base. I love you. That is a mouthful.
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