Estimated Reading Time 8 Minutes
Hey You! I’m Emily Romrell and I just want to say thanks for being here for another episode of The Vibrant Life Podcast. It means a lot that you’re willing to spend a few minutes in your day with me and I sincerely hope that the podcast is helping you to live your best life. I believe that being mindful of simple things that we can learn and live and apply in our lives consistently is a key to finding happiness. That doesn’t mean that we won’t struggle, but we can find joy even in the midst of our struggles as we do our best. That is why I started this podcast. It’s a way for me to keep track of the life lessons I’m learning and a commitment to myself to keep trying and keep growing every week. And it’s my hope that you can learn and grow with me in your own journey.
If you do feel like the podcast has had a positive influence on you, I would so appreciate a quick review on iTunes and a recommendation to your friends. It’s all about sharing the love and it doesn’t take much. Thanks for helping me to keep the ball rolling.
Alrighty, Peeps. Let’s get this conversation started. I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, there is something in this world that you probably find magical. That’s where we find our passions in life, right? If you’re a sports person, the sound of a bat connecting with the ball just right or hitting a three-pointer right before the buzzer to win the basketball game is magical. If you love the outdoors it could be going on the perfect hike where the sunlight dazzles you as you walk along the river. If you’re a math person it’s solving that sophisticated equation that shines more understanding into how the universe works. I like to think that wonder is really what makes the world go round. Life is fascinating and there is so much to marvel at.
Now, I want you to think for a minute about the word abracadabra. How many of us have spoken this word and pretended that we could do magic? It’s kind of embedded in our culture, right? We need a little mystery and enchantment to spice things up and make things fun.
What you may not know is that abracadabra actually has a rich history and was literally thought to be magic back in the day. Its ancient origins date back to the second century AD. The first mention of it is from a Roman physician named Quintus Serenus Sammonicus who recommends writing abracadabra in a triangle pattern on an amulet to fight off sickness. You may have guessed that I think history can be a little magical.
What I’m really interested in, however, is the meaning behind the word. We don’t know the exact etymology for sure
but I’m fascinated by two origin theories. Some scholars think it comes from an Aramaic phrase avra kehdabra, meaning “I will create as I speak”. Others think it’s from the Chaldean abbada ke dabra, meaning “perish like the word”. That’s right, my friends. I know it took a minute to get here but today we are literally discussing the magic and power in words. This is something that I personally am very passionate about.
Words are powerful. They’re powerful because words are the physical manifestation of our thoughts and our thoughts literally create our reality. This may sound a little hippy-dippy to you if you haven’t considered this before but hang in here with me. There are a couple of examples that I want to walk through with ya. The first is simple and I think everyone can relate to it.
I love books. Reading is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. If you are a reader, then you know that it’s a magical experience when the words on the page disappear and suddenly a movie is playing out in your imagination with characters that seem more alive than some of the people you may know. What’s with that? Someone a hundred years ago maybe put down their own thoughts in writing and now here you are playing them out in your head. If that’s not magic I don’t know what is.
But it goes beyond just a story in your mind. What you read becomes part of you. You learn lessons and take away experiences that are as real as anything else in this life. And because you’re a different person at 10, or 25, or 50, or 75 and you go back and read the same book and…Abracadabra. You come away with new lessons and new experiences. It’s like traveling to a favorite vacation spot. You have so many great memories, things are familiar but each time you go is new and you get something new out of it. I like to think that when you read a good book you take that magic inside you and it’s there to stay.
The next thing I want to talk about is how words affect our physical world. There is an extraordinary study that was performed by Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher who demonstrated that words, ideas, and music affect the molecular structure of water. This is incredible, my friends. You should check out the show notes and I’ll post some youtube videos and pictures so you can take a look.
Mr. Emoto wrote a book called The Message From Water. He took photographs of water molecules that have been exposed to different words over time and compared them. He took samples from clean water and polluted water and also used distilled water and wrote words like thank you, I love you, I hate you, you fool etc. and watched how the water crystals changed. The results are pretty magical guys. The positive words are absolutely beautiful and the negative words literally look sick. It’s interesting also that the polluted water that looked disgusting was completely transformed after a monk blessed it and it became pristine. The only things that were applied were words or thoughts. I guess he also used music, but music is our thoughts and feelings amplified, right?
Masaru Emoto also did a similar experiment with rice. He took three identical containers of rice. Every day for a month he spoke to the rice. To the first container he said, “Thank you.” To the second he said, “You’re an idiot.” And the third container was left completely alone. After a month there was a huge difference. The first jar had fermented into a rice vinegar situation and was pleasant. The second jar was moldy and gross, and the third jar was black. This experiment has been repeated by a bunch of people on youtube and the results are all very similar. Words are powerful.
There’s a quote by Mr. Emoto that’s pretty profound: water is the mirror that has the ability to show us what we cannot see. It is the blueprint for our reality, which can change with a single, positive thought. All it takes is faith, if you’re open to it.
Side note: I think it’s super interesting that the man who did these experiments has the last name, Emoto. Going along with the power of words in English to emote means to give expression to emotion. And I just did a google translate search for the meaning of Emoto in Japanese and it came back with “pattern book”. Google translate isn’t always accurate but that’s pretty dang fascinating, right?
So let’s take this concept a bit further. You may know even if you haven’t realized this is where I was going that about 70 percent of the human body is made up of water and, coincidentally, more than 70 percent of Earth is covered in water. What can we conclude then about how our words affect us as human beings and on the planet? It’s something to think about.
You know, I’ve struggled with my self-worth and negative self-talk for a long time. I’m talking years and years. I’m a lot better now than I used to be. I’d like to invite you to take a few minutes and think about how you talk to yourself. What are the words you use? What is your inner dialogue like? What are your words like with others in your life? Here’s the truth, the words you say to yourself are what create your reality. So it might be a good idea to take care in the words that you’re choosing.
One of my all-time favorite personal development books is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. In this book, he talks about how we literally put spells on each other and on ourselves with our words. It kind of gives a new meaning to the word spelling, right? I’m going to read you a quick excerpt:
Words are incredibly powerful. They can be used for good or to hurt others or ourselves. In this way, we can think of them as Black Magic or White Magic.
Words are like seeds in a fertile human mind: We can plant goodness or fear.
This first agreement asks us to be “impeccable” with our words. This is the agreement on which all the other agreements rest. Abiding by this agreement alone can change your life.
So what does it mean to be impeccable with your word?
It’s about saying exactly what you mean.
It means speaking with integrity.
The literal meaning of “impeccable” is being without sin. So you can think of “being impeccable with your word” as not sinning against yourself or others when you speak.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But being impeccable with your word is also the hardest agreement to honor. We’ve learned to do exactly the opposite.
Using your words for good can plant new seeds in yourself and others – breaking old, bad agreements and creating positive, new ones. For example, telling a child she’s hard-working plants a seed of pride. If you hear someone singing and you tell him his voice is lovely, you may be helping to break a spell previously cast by someone else’s careless words.
Following this agreement helps you become happy and at peace. As you become impeccable with your word, more seeds of love will replace seeds of fear – in yourself and others.
Ruiz, M. (2017). The four agreements: a practical guide to personal freedom. Amber-Allen Publishing.
You should check out The Four Agreements if you haven’t already read it. It’s a short book but it’s amazing.
So Peeps, what do you think? Are you ready to put a little more magic into your life and be a little more deliberate with your words? Whether it’s abracadabra, hocus pocus, or please and thank you, words are full of power and meaning. My challenge to you this week is to take notice of how you speak to yourself and to others. Don’t worry if you find yourself being more negative than you’d like. Be gentle with yourself. I’ve been trying to work on this personally for a while now and it’s still a process. I still have negative self-talk sometimes. But when you do recognize a negative thought try to replace it with a more positive one. The results you get back will be magical. Have a great week everybody and Live The Vibrant Life!
