(Topic: Words, Death, Reactions, Triggers)
Hi Friends,
A few weeks ago, I posted about 15 words related to death that I either liked or disliked, and shared my reasons why I find some to be better than others.
I don’t often have a lot of people comment on my posts, here or on Facebook or instagram (where I share the links) but I often do have a few people reach out and chat with me about what I wrote. I love those conversations! Sometimes I learn a lot, too.
After that post about words, though, several people reached out to me, and not all of them were the people who most frequently reply! I wanted to address a couple of the concerns and points that were brought to my attention.
One of the concerns people had was that they had used a word that I found problematic. First of all, if you’re doing your best, I’m not likely to be offended even if I disagree with your word choices. Second, if I find the word choice problematic, I will almost certainly let you know! I know that most people are well intentioned, and don’t realize the deeper ramifications of their word selections. So I will likely explain and help you understand my reasons, but I will not be offended. Generally, I write posts like that to help people see my perspective, to give them some context for when they next have to choose words; I don’t generally write because I have been super offended (opinionated, yes; offended, not usually!).
One of the other comments I got was that I’d missed some important words.
I limited myself to 15 because it made a good post length – there are so many words I could have included!!! I tried to hit the top several I personally consider to be either really bad or really good. But they were based solely on my own experience – several examples were given to me based on other peoples’ experiences. They are just as valid as my own experiences, but simply didn’t make my list because I haven’t encountered them as much. If there are specific words or topics you would be interested in seeing me address, please feel free to reach out! If I have enough words to make another post (with enough context that I feel comfortable writing about them), I might make another list.
Thank you for reaching out and talking to me about what I wrote! I always hope that what I write is helpful or makes people think, and it’s nice to hear people’s reactions.
Yours,
Sarah
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