A Reflection on Words

My name is Rachel and I have wanted to be a writer ever since I learned how to read. I have greatly enjoyed everybody's posts so far. Sadly, my writing style is quite different from the wonderful poetry that has graced this blog, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway. I wrote this a few days ago, and I figured people might enjoy it since it is about the power of words.

I base this reflection upon one of my favorite quotes of all time; though it is not the type of quote that inspires one to persevere, to achieve, or to work together like so many that are currently in vogue, hanging of office walls and schoolrooms blackboards. Instead, it is the kind of quote that tells the truth with beauty, and that is all we can ever ask of ourselves or of life. This particular quote is handwritten in silver sharpie on bright orange poster board and is hanging on the wall of my new dorm room. Although the orange (my favorite color because of its energy, authenticity, and originality) badly clashes with the brick wall behind it, its beauty is not diminished. If the words were written in blood on a pile of nuclear waste, I would still be awed by their clarity and wisdom.
"A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work or art nearest to life itself. It may be translated into every language and not only read but actually breathed from all human lips - not represented on canvas or in marble only but carved out of the breath of life itself."
-Henry David Thoreau

Naturally, every artist is partial to their own medium; every artist believes their work to be closest to reaching the "marrow of life," to borrow another phrase from Thoreau. Following this line of reason, Thoreau then may only be preening and stoking his own artistic ego, making his art form out to be the best. But I prefer to think that he was writing more out of a desire to his own connection with the written and spoken word. Indeed, it is a connection shared by millions of human beings since the dawn of language. Language, the first art form, was born out of the necessity for communication. Although it still fills this capacity, language has since had bestowed upon it by creative humans the twin blessings of wisdom and beauty.
Language is the ultimate human art form. Since nearly all human beings can both speak and understand at least one language, all of humanity can shape and transform the ever-changing forms and styles of language. Flowery words are not required, only a desire (nay, a need) for self-expression. By expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas in language, all humans participate in the creation of the greatest art work of all time: human discourse.