Then I got to thinking...what would I write about on this topic.
I am basically NOT a superstitious person. As Ginger (one of our intrepid bloggers) said: the typical superstitions--"don't open an umbrella in a house, don't get out and about too much on Friday the 13th lest harm should befall you; watch out if a black cat crosses your path, cross your fingers for good luck, and don't break any mirrors"--are silly.
Indeed.
Of course, we could all expand the list above...all based on various origins and "explainable" within a context. But even other examples of superstition do not move me. After all, the whole point of superstitions is that something has some power over you--it predicts disaster or bad luck. Except for those superstitions that bring you good luck.
So, what was I going to write about? Then I recalled--there is one thing that I think of as predictive: the spoken word.
Let me explain--there are times when I absolutely will not voice a thought because of my deep-seated sense that SAYING something makes it a reality. Maybe I have this sense because I am basically an intuitive person. I can look down the road and envision what could happen. Thus by extension maybe my saying "it" causes the event to happen.
Understandably most of the examples that I could give you involve some level of disaster. So all the more reason not to voice them--does saying word call forth the event? Maybe not, but I am still sufficiently "superstitious" of the possibility that I keep mum.
5 comments:
I have not thought about speaking as predictive...until recently. In some research I'm working on, I interviewed a vice president at my institution. She made the comment that one's language when dealing with crisis is very important, as it affects people and outcomes. "I need to quickly give language, correct language, to what’s happening to the people that are dealing with it before it gets out of control," she said. I found that so fascinating, considering language as a control mechanism. But there's something about it that rings true with me. I'm just not at a point of expertise that I can use my language with that much deliberation and finesse...yet.
"SAYING something makes it a reality"- Is this always a negative thing or do you also find that SAYING can bring about a positive reality too? I often write and rehearse an approach for sharing difficult information during meetings, particularly with patients who have suffered significant physical losses. Words can bring hope or despair and can be self-fulfilling.
I agree that there is something about verbalizing things. For example: if there is emotion attached to a subject, you might find your voice shaking or yourself tearing up. You were holding it in, but speaking it made it more real in some sense. I don't think there's necessarily anything predictive except in the sense that words carry power and once spoken may be acted upon.
Maybe when you say something out loud you are having a premonition but just don't realize it.I have had similar experiences of saying something unusual off the cuff which turns out to be true.
I had a colleague who used to say that we should give voice to our dreams so that we could "put it out there in the universe." It's been my experience that the universe can be alternately kind or fickle in response! ;) I do believe that saying something out loud gives the thought or idea a kind of "never going back" power for the one who speaks them. I also believe that intuitives are insightful, so what we perceive, or know, is less a matter of premonition than an understanding of a likely outcome, based on our observations and intuitive knowledge. The idea of the spoken word as premonition is an interesting one, no matter what.
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