The Unconscious Power of Words.

My last post ended with my insistence on the unconscious power of words. I strongly suggest you read it (click here), just because I truly believe that many will find it helpful to better understand where I come from and, therefore, better grasp the perspective I am offering. You see, I know for sure that in my life, words have had huge consequences, be they positive or negative. Let me better explain.

Have you ever stopped and meditated? Or maybe stood for a while in silence with no music playing and no ambient noise? What was going through your mind? What are the things, people, moments, words … that inhabit your soul when there is nothing to distract you?

Maybe, it’s just who I am, but when silence arises, according to how I feel in the moment, I quickly make links between what I’ve read, lived or heard before, with the feelings I’m experiencing. OK, that’s probably very confusing. Let me try to better explain it, with some examples. In moments of downs, where all seems dark and helpless, I often find myself remembering negative things I was told. The words resonate in my mind as an echoing wind of destruction. I give it space, I replay it, I give it importance and suddenly the worst happens: I unconsciously let myself be conditioned.

Conditioning Can Be Positive or Negative

These conditioning can be positive or negative according to the words and the importance we give them. It’s like anything else, conditioning becomes unconscious and can change behaviour, destroy convictions and with time make people totally unhappy. Think of the childhood traumas or abuse…

Obviously, all this is theoretical, let me give you a concrete example. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I was often told I was gifted as a writer and believe me, I’m admitting this very humbly. Yet, after occupying various positions, specifically as a writer, I happened to find an amazing job opportunity that offered so many social advantages. As crazy as this can sound, my immediate superior was someone who as a matter of fact subscribed to one of my blogs and would keep commenting positively on my posts.

This same person would often send me private messages just to tell me how gifted I was. Yet, in this specific job, I did not seem to fit in. Every written text needed to be overseen by various people, each and every one would decide to change words, add comas, change sentences, etc. It would then be sent to the person I was writing for. That same person would often change everything and, the final text simply had nothing to do with what I had written to start with. I went from trying hard, to feeling crushed in my creativity. After a few months, I lost that job. When firing me, this same boss I spoke about earlier, told me I was fired because of my lack of writing skills.

When Fighting For Freedom Makes You Unstable

Now, this may seem already crazy as it is … but these words affected me until now. That is, until I finally decided to step out of the conditioning these words imposed on me. Every time I’d try to get back into writing, I’d soon give up. These words would resonate in my soul as a hammer pounding me down. I’d read my texts and delete them right away thinking I’d be mocked for them. I would stay away from writing even though I knew it is a calling. I needed to heal… I needed to rebuild my trust … regain confidence in my abilities to write and, furthermore, simply write. Yes, simply write … because I know I’m not perfect, but practice makes perfect.

The reason why I shared this last example is because it is linked to the story in my previous post. I know, for a fact, that I need to write. It’s more than just a whim, it’s a calling. When I start writing, my whole being changes, it’s almost as if I get my wings back. When I stop, I quickly feel empty.

This better explains how I may seem unstable in the eyes of others. Changing jobs, creating businesses, moving out, etc. are all things I’ve done to try to find the perfect setting that would enable me to write. But, once again, the conditioning caused by this person close to me, telling me I was unstable (see previous post), combined with the words from my boss whilst being fired, were enough to paralyze me in what I’d call my true vocation.

So please, nourish your soul with the right words, nourish it with the words from those who love you and encourage you. Make sure you sever the links to negative words and cancel their effects unless you see in them an opportunity to grow. Words have an unconscious power to condition you. Chose them wisely.

Once you are free from negative conditioning, you are open to your true vocation and, you make space to build on new foundations. In my next post, I’ll tell you more about building on new foundations by getting rid of another type of conditioning: fear.

Make sure you subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss my next posts and, if you’d like to help me out, don’t hesitate to share them with friends and family!