I was raised in the Valley - yes, that Valley; and, as I type these words, I'm clear that this is a story that's been holding me hostage, and so, I let it go...
Let's start fresh, from right here, right now.
...
I say like a lot.
Like, a lot.
It peppers a great, big bunch of my sentences--clear, cancel, delete. It has - historically - peppered a great, big bunch of my sentences, while filling in plenty of spaces in between.
I've pondered my careless overuse of this insidious little like many times throughout our years together, analyzing its ubiquity in my expression from various angles and vantage points.
Like slipped into the collective Valley Girl consciousness, including my own, in the 80s as a way to maintain an air of non-committal whateverness, such that the speaker (moi) need not actually own the statement trailing its red patent leather heels.
For example: "It was, like, the smallest elephant in the world."
In this instance, like frees the speaker from any actual responsibility from what she's purporting to be true, such that the subject of her sentence may actually be a perfectly average-sized elephant, or a moth, or a toenail.
More recently, back when I was sprinkling careless likes between my otherwise deliberately-chosen words, it was a check-out - an unconscious tic of tongue, inadvertently disempowering my speech, dumbing me down to judgmental ears receiving me as vapid and shallow, because that's one of the unfortunate side effects of the overused like - it vibrates at the same energetic frequency as stupid.
Like is a tell - it means (meant) I'm not present. I'm not hearing myself. I'm not here.
I choose to be here. Now. I choose to experience every fractal morsel of every juicy moment of this blooming, booming life of mine.
I. Am. Here.
P.S. As mastery of a language of empowerment and present moment triumph is a practice, and a practice well-served and exponentially accelerated by the reflections and support of a community of conscious communicators, I cordially invite you to call me in to the moment if* you hear me use like as a conversational check-out.
* if, in this exceptional instance, is deliberate. this concludes our lengthy stream of afterthoughts.
dani katz
- dani katz
- Dani Katz established her reputation as one of Los Angeles’ finest literary talents by way of her bold voice, her expanded perspective and her mastery of language, having published hundreds of articles in the LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Whole Life Times, LA Yoga and Santa Fe Reporter, among others. In addition to her broad spectrum of practical experience and formal studies, including a Master’s Degree in Journalism, she has spent the past decade immersed in the study of alchemical languaging and conscious communication, researching and perfecting the myriad ways, whys and hows that language influences our every human experience. She is available for coaching, consulting, writing and editing. Check out her services at www.quantumlanguaging.com
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