The Word Illusion

A group of people used to be bothered by the way I talked. I could easily call myself "rubbish", "bitch" or "pig" which is apparently troublesome for their ears. They told me I should have more self respect. I still remember the time they heard me saying "sh*t", they went mad and told me it's a pity that a lovely girl degrades herself, throwing pearls before swines, in their own words.

They judged me based on their own assumption and ignorance. According to their mind, they knew that I had no feeling of self worth if I laughed about myself. Well, as for me, I don't care if you call me a swine, bitch, etc.. My self worth isn't defined by words. And what does a word mean? It's man made. You can call a twenty carat diamond "crap", and it's still a diamond. Call a dog "cow" and he still barks.

I think they were so bothered by words because they have not learned how to accept one's self. They let themselves be distorted and defined by words which meaning is a mere illusion. Call them "monkey" and they might probably feel they're monkeys. Well, I don't. Along the journey I've learned to recognize who I am, I'm proud of my achievement, of my positive qualities. At the same time I learned to laugh about my flaws and mistakes as well. I can't really fathom, why do we let ourselves be limited by literal labels? A human being's existence is simply larger than words. If we have the awareness and will to strive for a bigger heart, small stuffs just won't matter anymore.

Ok, to be fair, maybe it does matter to other people, then just tell me upfront that it disturbs them, maybe I will take their feelings into consideration, but quit pretending to be concerned about those precious pearls thrown before swines and stop telling me their ways to boost my self worth. The fact is that calling myself pearl or swine won't change the way I feel about myself.

If you pour vinegar into a tiny cup, the water inside will turn sour. But if you pour the same amount of vinegar or even more into a lake, the water remains fresh.