Why being a word geek is good for your relationships

I’m a word geek. I love etymologies. I love thesaurus.com. For Pete’s sake, I loved the four years of Latin I studied in high school. 

Why? 

It comes down to what Brene Brown says in her latest (and highly recommended) book, Atlas of the Heart: 

When we don’t have the language to talk about what we’re experiencing, our ability to make sense of what’s happening and share it with others is limited.

Words have the power to connect me with reality and to help me connect with other people. These are two things that I, a sensitive and heady person who often felt like I was a weirdo, have always longed for.

Words also help me make sense of my experience—and oh how much I love for things to make sense!

Like Brene says in her book, many of my clients have a difficult time expressing their experience and naming emotions beyond sad, happy and angry. 

I see how much not having language for their inner world limits their ability to have empathy for themselves, to manage their emotions and to make real connections with others.

If that sounds like something you also struggle with, I’ll share a couple of resources that people I’ve worked with have found helpful:

These feelings and needs cards help people get more granular and specific about their inner landscapes.  

And The feelings wheel is another  great resource. Printing it out and familiarizing yourself with the nuanced terminology for all the ways you can feel will absolutely help you expand your experience of yourself in the world.

Either way, the point is to look for the word geek in you.

Not because you have to start hanging out at thesaurus.com for pleasure, but because having a larger vocabulary that’s specific to emotions, experience and qualities you want to embody will help you understand yourself better and be understood better by others. And that lends itself to more meaning, joy and connection in your life.

On the subject of words, one last thing. Did you know that I post unique content on Linkedin a few times a week? Follow me there to get more posts like this and links to curated content.