It's a
Catholic phrase they rarely
say anymore (probably because
it makes sense): "
Bless my thoughts, my
words, and my
feelings." Those of you who've
been to those masses know where it
used to be said--at the part where everybody
kind of fumbles, where you're actually supposed to be
drawing a cross on your
forehead, lips, and chest. That's where the words used to go. They
probably got cut when the
clergy decided
Latin wasn't PC enough. It sounds a lot better in Latin.
So.
Ever try it?
I'll warn you
now,
emotions and thoughts are
extremely difficult to control by
force of will alone. It's like
slowing your heart-rate or
meditating down your blood pressure. Takes
lots of work. But, for those of you who want to know
how it feels to
be sacred, even a little, I
dare you to try it with your
words.
I decided to try it, not for
religious reasons but because it might
make me happier. "Hmm," I thought, "If I don't let myself SAY
negative things, maybe my
focus will shift a bit towards the
positive things and keep my from
killing someone during this extremely
awful time in my life." Hell, it was
worth a try--I was
so pissed all the time that I was ready to
do something seriously illegal to the next
fuckhole that gave me a
dirty look.
I'll
keep the suspense short. It
works. It takes a
little concentration for a day or two, but nothing
difficult. If what you're
about to say isn't something you'd
consider "
Sacred Speaking", don't say it. Whatever that
means for you is how it works. For instance,
I still swear quite a lot, because I
like to and I don't see anything
irreverent about saying that the
sunset is
fucking beautiful. But I don't say things like, "
This sucks", or "What an
asshole"--if I can't find a way to say it that would
sound good from Buddha's lips, I just
shut up.
HOW does it work, you ask? What does this
little exercise DO? Well, I'd love
anybody else who tries it for a few days or so to
write their results here, but I'll tell you what it
does for me.
I
regret what I've said
a lot less, and when I do regret saying something, it's such a
rare thing that I actually get up and
go apologize for it.
My husband is in
heaven because I no longer "bitch" (spew
little complaints about
dissatisfying things). And when I do
complain,
shit gets done.
In
four days, more than five people have
commented on my new "pleasantness", even though I haven't changed my
views on anything--just the
words. Oh, and
three folks have decided that I'm some sort of
guru, because when you do this
sacred speech thingy, you do end up sounding like
G from
Holy Man.
I suppose this wouldn't be
any fun at all if you were a
bland, "nice" person normally, with no
controversial opinions or anything. It's much more
interesting for us
sarcastic motherfuckers, I think. But I'll let
you guys decide on the
demographics.