Words

Weapons of mass re-education

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13 November 2024

What if the words we use every day could change the world?

The response I get when I ask people to come for my writing workshops is a ‘very demure’, “Ha ha! I don’t write.”

But – we all write.

Writing isn’t limited to novels and articles.

You don’t have to be a writer to write.

You write texts, emails, random comments on social media, birthday cards, speeches, presentations, references, letters, applications, shopping lists, CVs …

You write. Ubiquitously.

That’s how important writing is as a life skill. And you know how much power words have, written or otherwise. The misuse and miscommunication of words have made their, often irreparable, impact on your relationships more than once, I’m sure.

They have had an irreparable part to play in the ecological crisis too.

Words have shaped our perceptions of what is. Words have told us that we have to do, build, buy, consume, produce. Words craft our job descriptions, promotion notifications, and death certifications. Words bring us into the world, let us make sense of it, and then, take us back out of it.

Words. They’re what we are. We are made of words. We are made of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. We dream in words, we work in words, we love in words, and we fall apart in words.

Being exposed to the same words for most of our lives makes new ideas difficult to comprehend. We are used to concepts of death and destruction, of calamity and catastrophe, and of an army of Armageddon assailants.

How can we command our minds to think of a better world then?

A world of peace, sufficiency, community, and good faith.

To change our world – we must first change our words.

Through writing.

Writing reworks words into new narratives. Writing paints images of new normals. Writing alters negative perceptions into promises of positive ones. Writing reveals better future narratives.

A dear friend wrote, “humanity will not solve the climate problem, at least until there is no other choice. The problem cannot be fixed until people think differently.”

And how do we inspire someone to think differently?

We write.

Writing rewires your brain. That’s why journaling is such a powerful therapy technique. Writing as therapy helps to name negative emotions or thoughts and reframe them.

Writing literally alters the brain’s neuroplasticity by using the prefrontal cortex for complex thinking, planning, and decision making. Writing allows a person’s thoughts to be more organised and focused, further strengthening neural pathways. This also makes the brain more resilient and more creative.

Writing helps you connect the dots, clarify thoughts, and turn them into relatable concepts specifically for you or whoever you’re writing for. It allows you to be concise since in many times you can’t sit next to the person and ramble through your verbal diarrhoea to make sense of the flurry of thoughts now leaving your mouth.

Writing helps you to remember things. Memory is formed at the hippocampus and writing solidifies the new knowledge. Handwriting in particular. Have you heard of the rule of seven? This idea suggests that we need to encounter a new concept seven times for it to stick. With writing – you engage multiple senses at once – seeing, thinking, reading, and repeating words in your mind – rote learning your new knowledge into your toolbox.

So then, if our ecological problem cannot be fixed until people think differently – writing can help:

With writing we can paint them pictures with language often unheard.

With rainbows and butterflies crafted in nothing but hopeful words.

Remind them they’re safe, insecurities are unnecessary.

Everyone is vulnerable. It is a human trait we all carry.

Tell them stories of love with nothing but compassion.

Show them that we can do it, we just need the right action.

We just need to be shown the way through crafting better future narratives - words will be the breadcrumbs. They’ll be the peaceful, beautiful, compassionate ‘weapons’ of mass re-education.

We all write.

Why not write for the planet?

I’m setting up lots of eco-literary resources for free at The Eco Chapter @ Skool.

Read this for more information.

Start slow. Words may not be your thing yet - but now you’re writing for a bigger purpose. Who knows - You might fall in love with words. Words that save our planet.