My Words 2015

I’ve eaten my words more often than I’d like. They are never tasty. So, when Facebook offered to let me see the words I’d used most often in 2015, I didn’t immediately jump at the offer. What if the words I use most often are grumpy? Or self-centered? What if my word cloud actually comes out with raindrops and lighting bolts?

You may laugh at my angst, Dear Reader, but you are not inside my head on a typical Monday morning. Or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or… you get the picture.

Finally, my techie friends told me I could test the cloud without actually revealing it to the public. Oh, joy! Isn’t that just like the grace of God in our lives? Thank goodness He so often deals with us in private instead of splashing our foolishness up on the big screen for everyone to see.

So, I tried it. And wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles as the tailor sings in Fiddler on the Roof: I was Happy! In fact, you could sort of read the message as, “Happy today I am” in Yoda-speak.

I don’t think I always attained that goal. (The word “me” is fairly large in the cloud) But the overall picture is much better than I expected. I wouldn’t want this app to follow me around all day and collect the words I didn’t curate on purpose for public consumption. (I do try to be purposeful on social media.) But this little experiment reminded me that Someone is collecting my words.

It made me think more about those words and about the heart from which they spring. Because lots of someones are listening every time I speak. The clouds I leave in their minds are the ones that actually matter.