Can you fix my spoke
and make me a better felloe
Tjen Photography - Royal Opera House London (Tosca), 3 June 2014
Your words define you
What you say and what you express says a lot about who you are. Some people are hiding behind the fact that they don’t mean what they say, for example, that what they say is meant ironically. However, the irony of ironies is that if you use certain words often enough, these words start to define you and become inseparably linked to you.
The words you say (or write) are not only a reflection of you, but your own words also change you. You become the way you respond. If your response is predominantly angry, you become an angry man or woman. If you make racist remarks often enough, you become a racist. The reverse is also true: if we consistently use kind, thoughtful, wise words, we transform ourselves into better fellows[1].
Perhaps if we fix our spokes towards the nave[2] (our Origin) we become more centred and balanced.
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[1] Fellow is used familiarly since mid-15c. for “man, male person,” but is not etymologically masculine. It has been used by reputable authors to indicate manfolk as well as womanfolk, as it has in above context.
[2] Nave Origin - Old English nafu, nafa, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch naaf and German Nabe, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit nābhis ‘nave, navel’. Compare with navel.