Living and Birding Gratitude: I Am A Words Person

I am a “Words Person.” I am deeply affected by my friend’s and loved one’s words to me. I love their words and I believe what they tell me. Give me a compliment, or anything positive really, and I will glow for days. Tell me you love me and I will love you back. Be open and genuine with me and you can be sad, angry, irritable, fussy, or whatever you are feeling, and I will still be there for you. I will trust until proven otherwise. Words are golden to me. And in texts and messages, so are those emojies. Send me a hug or a heart and I believe in its meaning. It may be a bit naïve, but it is how my mind works.

This is part of the reason that I like and ‘heart’ so many posts on FB. I know and appreciate others reacting positively to my posts. So when a friend posts something, I like it, or often I love it. It just takes a second. If for some reason I do not agree with it, I will just scroll on by. And I do know better than to be affected by the number of reactions that my posts might get. I have written a lot about the algorithms and how they dictate what we see on FB. This is the way it is. Their playing field, their rules, but I love my communication with y’all when I do get through. I truly do.

In Australia, I am a sucker for ladies who refer to me as “Love” or “Darl.” Just like in the southern US, I love it when a waitress calls me, “Honey” or “Darlin’.” Those words are like verbal hugs. And I do believe in hugs! If you have never met me in person, I am a hugger. I try not to hug those who are not huggers. I was not a hugger until my late 30’s and I am so glad that I am now, but I will not hug those who prefer not to be hugged.

And there are those who are not words people at all. We have all heard it said, “Don’t tell me. Show me! Words mean nothing.” Or the even more dismissive, “Words are cheap.” But for me, words are everything. I’m very okay with being told something and I will take it to heart. Easy to manipulate much? Well yeah, I reckon I am. But that is who I am, and I am not going to change that. I would not want to. I am a words person. I like that about me. Words mean something, everything. I also do not lie. You can believe my words.

The other side of the ‘words coin’ is that hurtful words linger with me far longer than I would like. I feel things deeply in general and I can get my feelings hurt. I try with all my heart never to hurt anyone else’s feelings. I react badly to having my feelings hurt. It isn’t pretty. I am like the Hulk, except it’s, “Don’t hurt my feelings. You wouldn’t like me when my feelings are hurt.” This is true, but I have gotten much better about that and I keep it mostly under control. There are a few people in my world (only a very few), who I find insincere and false (two of my least favourite human characteristics). So regardless of who they are, my wellbeing has to come first. If it doesn’t, I cannot be genuine for myself and everyone else. So I choose not to interact with them. Although sometimes it hurts a little.

Here are some photos because words are the world, but a blog entry needs some photos. The first two are a White-winged Chough from Serendip Sanctuary the other day.

This is a photo of a Masked Lapwing from 2015 as we started the year that became the book. The old name was Spur-winged Plover and you can see why.

Here is a Black Swan and some of its cygnets from 2015. Black Swans are a bird we take for granted around here, but they are pretty cool.

And this is a book I recently acquired and I may need. No, I am not leaving 'Australia,' but I am going to do a bit of travelling. And believe me, I will write a lot of words about all of it.