I am exploring language and its power to create meaning. I read a quote by someone named Joseph Jaworski (someone I need to learn about) that caught my attention:

“I had always thought we used language to describe the world – now I was seeing that is not the case. To the contrary, it is through language that we create the world.”

 This quote is particularly illuminating because I have been considering my post yesterday and had some concerns. I want to stay committed to my understanding of language as not limited to words that describe thoughts. I think that I default to the spoken or written word as having a monopoly on usable language. I have spent a lot of my life in school and I think that misperception comes from the amount of time I spent in academics.

Don’t get me wrong. I love words. I love ideas and concepts. I could discuss, debate and distill thoughts for a very long time.(probably too long) I love the the reading or listening to a great story. But Jaworski’s quote illuminates so much more.

If language creates the world, then it must also have kinetic and physical qualities. It must have spatial and relational implications and dynamics. It has dimensions, complexity and capacity beyond the thought. Words and ideas are only part of the story.

I found Jaworski’s quote in a fascinating article written by Frances Baldwin.( another person I need to learn about) She poses a number of beautiful questions about how, as leaders of change, we can go beyond gathering data to create language around change, but apply ourselves to create the conditions for which and in which change can occur and meaning can be developed.

She talks about ideas and language reflecting in the world around us. The kernel of her article for me is a less explicit but deeply important connection to the experience of meaning. This is the thread I want to start pulling.

Self inquiry and thoughtful reflections are essential, don’t get me wrong. But linked with experience, meaning becomes more than a cerebral understanding. Meaning can become an embodied experience that will not only last longer in an individual, but can create deeper connection acceptance and solidarity amongst a group.

That is the power of language permeating experience. That is the magic of immersive environments that are crafted in service of evoking meaning through developing aptitudes for new language through patterns, experience and engagement. This works for an individual or a group. Language can be designed and fabricated to serve in the world. And like good design it is best done in an iterative fashion serving a collaborative conversational dynamic that leaves room for the possible outcomes from unknown sources.

How can we infuse our language with more embodied meaning? How can we provide opportunities to invite others around us to do it as well?