It is interesting to see what conditioning can do to us as a populous. We have borders that are imaginary and we have divided the planet into countries, states , no go zones. War has ravaged the surface of the earth and weapons of unimaginable power detonated below the surface.
Reality TV thinking up all sorts of weird shit just to create ratings to generate money for corporations. The same corporations that wipe thousands in a re sizing exercise leaving their employee’s watching the shows they were responsible for.
It all seems mind numbing, doesn’t it ?
The truth of the matter I often ask myself where did all this come from, how did we get to this state of affairs? Perhaps that’s not all true, perhaps that’s just the way some perceive their world. Perhaps this is what the powers that be are wanting us to believe to keep us in fear.
We use words like terrorist, ISIS, Islamists, Jihadi, Suicide bombers, Militants. We see advertising that is created by marketers to make the masses continually consume and wrap all this in the form of happiness. 99% of people that buy what the brands tell us is hip and cool is demonstrated on cat walks by models that represent less than 1% of the population. Where the rest are trying to fit into, change, augment themselves just to look the same and fit in.
If you look at the world from that lense, you may be living in a false sense of security, a state of anxiety and fear so to speak. Now I’m not judging here simply highlighting the world according to my view of it. After all isn’t the world according to everyone’s view of it? Or is it?
Let’s take a step back for a second…
From the wee little early ages in our childhood we are conditioned by sounds (words) that at the early stages don’t even make sense until repeated over and over again till the point that we start to understand the sounds that shape words also equal some sort of meaning , action or definition. Repeated time and time again each word starts to take on a perspective ( the world according to the user) however in some cases the words are used to paint a scenario that changes the “user’s” perspective.
Example: Let’s’ say you love a particular food I’m going with oysters and every time you eat them you feel good, they taste great and give you a sense of comfort. Now let’s say you’re at a party the oysters come around you grab a few and an hr later you start to feel a little unwell…two hours pass and you’re home looking down the S bend of the toilet wishing for your life to end so to speak. This passes and a month later you are offered some fresh oysters but this time just the word “oysters” sends a shiver down your spine and jolts your memory to the porcelain bus
This is how we associate words that we know with events and emotions. Now it doesn’t have to be that extreme all the time but the power of words can have a pretty severe effect on us and in many cases we don’t even know that we are experiencing it.
Research shows that children hear the word “no”, “don’t”, “you can’t”, “stop” and other words like that over 140,000 per year till the ages of 7 or 8 ? In the book by Martin Lindstrom Brandwashed he concluded that major retail brands selling women’s sanitary items were promoted with particular music jingles and animation styles of advertising using particular scripted language that when researched shows girls under the age of 7 already knew what type and brand of tampons they want to use in puberty. When surveyed they found that the majority of young girls had been programed by TV, radio and Print media for years and as such acted by unconsciously gravitating towards that product.
See the power of words can have effects for deeper than we actually think.
If you were ever in a situation where you were constantly “programmed” by your peers, parents, teachers, religious figure to think and act a particular way the truth of the matter is that you’re probably not even aware to what extent the damage has been done. Take this set of words for instance “ You’re not good enough” it’s no different to 4 other words in order” I’m going to work” however dependant on the circumstances, the emotional impact placed on the words and the mental belief conditioned the outcome could last a lifetime. “You’re not good enough” can have consequences that actually reach generationally…“My father always said I’m no good or good enough” this exact sentence can be repeated to the next generation down, a daughter , a son that can continue this negative legacy.
So how can we recognise words themselves are doing us harm?
First of all you may want to look at the world around you. Are you looking at it from a fear or lack of point of view? Do you find yourself believing everything on current affair shows, the news and newspapers as being the true state of affairs in your community, state country and globally? Are you starting to restrict activities that you once used to do due to what you have read , heard or watched by some authority figure? Now let me be straight here. I’m not saying you should ignore danger signs , incidents that can be easily repeated , no go or war zones however ongoing fear mongering is very real and let’s just say over exaggerated and sensationalised in many cases.
Secondly are you finding yourself reacting negatively if someone doesn’t agree with you, decides to do some hating on social media or an email that is a little derogatory ? If this is so you maybe suffering needlessly because you are allowing the words on paper or on screen to have an effect that is whole body based. BTW if you don’t believe it try this. Next time you receive some shitty news just check your heart rate and breathing and I’ll bet you find a significant elevation in both. You might also find a dryness of the mouth and a sudden rage come over you.
See the power of words can affect or infect the whole mind and body…crazy right? We are centinel beings that feel and think rationally and react according to everything in our environment. The key is not to get caught up in meaning rather focus on the control of the environment itself. Words are just that words until such time as we add emotion and situation. A great way to gauge this is by starting to look at words differently and acknowledge that you are in control rather than the other way around.
The next time you read something that normally sends you into a spin, stop for a moment and ask yourself whether or not your are over and or under reacting and just gauge whether they are what I call speaking truth to you. Perhaps you are allowing them to hurt you for no real reason at all. Infact perhaps what we call negativity after reading, writing, listening or seeing words is just the way that we have been conditioned to act no more no less.
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