... derived from Brother Layamon's chronicle Brut's "Habbeð
alle godne dæie", circa 1205
"Be a good day."
... Laurence Platt, circa 2019
"The
Vedic pundits
of
India
of five thousand years ago noted that when the naming word for an
object was uttered in the Sanskrit language by a saint, that object
would manifest and materialize out of nothing."
... Laurence Platt paraphrasing an ancient Hindu legend circa 3000
BC, shared by
Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi
Language. Ah, language! More than merely the ability to verbalize and
make noise, there's a kind of language that has a power to alter the
very quality (if not the very fabric) of
Life itself
- you know, the "In the beginning was the word, and the word was
with
God,
and the word was
God"
kind of language? That kind of language. Language has the
power to shut things down entirely or to seriously limit them or to
open them up wide and limitless, and even to generate
something from nothing.
Literally. That's a take-away from any experience of
Werner's work
(or giveaway if you like, depending on your perspective
and your chosen role in playing the game).
Discovering the true power of language as leverage in life, starts with
being open to the possibility that the way language leverages most
effectively and therefore works best, may not always be in the form of
or in the expressions with which we've become familiar and whose use we
take for granted. Transformation calls me to fit my language to my
Self-expression, not vice versa. Be careful: this isn't a debate. It
isn't a position for you to sign up for or to vote on or to evaluate to
see if you agree with me or not (I'm not canvassing you). Rather it's a
positive proposition
to try on for size. And if it fits, take it, it's yours. And if it
doesn't, discard it and walk on.
Here's something else to consider as this inquiry gains traction: the
opposite of
brilliance
may not be stupidity. It may simply be not knowing - in the sense of
"having not yet discovered". We deploy language in so many ways which
are both ordinary and familiar. Yet unexamined, these ways simply
cement our erroneous concepts of ourselves and our natural power, into
not who we are - certainly into smaller than who we really are,
unfortunately falling a far cry from what we're truly capable of.
For example, take something banal, something milquetoast,
something never examined albeit in such widespread use as to be
considered ubiquitous: saying "Have a good day" which in one form or
another, has been around unexamined since the thirteenth century.
Contrast it with "Be a good day" which is most certainly
unusual usage. Yet I assert it works much better than
"Have a good day", the usual usage. How so? Because it calls
forth something way more profound, way more powerful than
"Have a good day.". "Oh? What do you mean by that,
Laurence?".
And well may you ask. Try this out: "Have a good day" (which is to say
our languaging "Have a good day") cedes our power over the
possible good, to the day ie to accommodating whatever the day dishes
up; whereas "Be a good day" cedes our power over the good day, to
ourselves and to whatever qualities we choose to generate and bring
forth into and to and over the day (Man! I really want you
to get that ...).
Look: we can all tell "Be a good day" doesn't sound like ordinary
language. That's because it isn't. It exemplifies
extra-ordinary language. Your second grade school ma'am English
teacher would throw a fit if she heard you say it. That said, it's an
example of what's known in the world of transformation as
generative language. Try it out for yourself. Try it on
for size. Say "Have a good day" for yourself. Listen where it comes
from. Listen where it lands. Listen what it brings with it. Then
say "Be a good day" for yourself. Listen where it comes from. Listen
where it lands. Listen what it brings with it. If you're paying close
attention,
you'll get the distinction clearly. Moreover if you're paying
attention,
you'll get you've generated a wide open, good day from
nothing, by deploying language alone (no, not "affirmed":
"generated").
More than that, if you're watching and listening astutely for what this
reveals, you'll also realize how long we've obfuscated and ignored the
power of language to open things up wide and limitless. Look: this
isn't a new skill we've just taught ourselves. Rather, generating
something from nothing
through language, is an inherent ability humans have had all along yet
never fully recognized ... at least not till
Werner
challenged us to re-evaluate all of it, and to take it out on to the
track for a test drive.