Words

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Blog posts should be less than three hundred words, with pictures.

My daughter informed me of this guideline not too long ago, shortly after I started this blog. Three hundred! In the first few hours of the morning I can barely manage to utter three hundred words. When I’m writing, I ramble and three hundred words get left in the dust.

An urban legend states that men use 10,000 words per day and women use 25,000. Darling informed me that I needed to save some words for when I get home. I try to do that.

But what about the quality of the words?

Some days I use the right words – good words, helpful words, uplifting words, words of encouragement, words of enlightenment, words of love and kindness that bring a glow to the hearers. Those are good days, for me and everyone around me.

Other days my words are growled out or snapped off, worthless words, critical words, destructive words, words of complaint, words of disillusion, words of ignorance and spite that tear apart the hearers. Those are not good days, for me or for anyone around me.

Religion aside, the Bible has a lot of good advice in it. Matthew 15:18 (English Standard Version) says “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”  We all have darkness in our hearts, but I sure don’t need to share that darkness. I’d rather share the light.

On dark days I need to limit myself to three hundred words or less, ponder the quiet of the koi pond, view the azure sky and be grateful that my loved ones bear with me.

The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the Beatitudes are both less than three hundred words.

So with good editing, I suppose three hundred words can be powerful.

Three hundred powerful, uplifting words – with pictures.


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