Word as Will

Will

Everyday in our lives, we say "I could read that book.". We say to our friends, "We should play some videogames sometimes!". Even most recently to me, on a forum, some folks were talking about playing some games as a gaming night. "Hey guys we should play some games sometime." Are you seeing a pattern here?

Would. Could. Should.

There is no will.

Will, is the life force that brings ideas to fruition. That brings us forward. The goalsetter of life. Whatever form will takes, the Will to power? The Will to truth? The will to have a good time with friends? The will to waste away? All of these are wills of people, and they all happen.

Word

It is no surprise then, that the origin of the English word, word, stems from the Norse word "Wyrd", which translates to destiny. Your words, establish your fate. Your destiny. Your future. Without a will, your habits, your default way of acting, is your will- and to many this is a will to death, a will for life to live them, and to be swept in the current of the times and the herds.

Odin himself foresaw his death at the hands of Ragnarok, and in seeing this- he turned to the depths of the World Tree. He sunk to its deepest root, conversed with mimir and suffered and bled for days, to the torment of himself, to the torment of his very life- this God of frenzy! So he could sip of the waters of wisdom, and learn the words that could change his destiny- change his fated death at the end of the world.

And just as the past is our fate. We have suffered too- if we could go back, we could say things differently. We all have our regrets and our words, and our words have been willed, and our wills have sowed regrets.

Knowing what to will is difficult. Nietzsche excellently observed the abyss of values to which we sink now.

Stories

The story I just told you, of Odin's attempt to change his fate by learning the words- underpins the importance of words. The virtue and power in them, and how destiny is interlinked with them.

But there is a problem with stories.

We don't all share the same stories anymore. No common hero myth. No common virtues. No common ideas of good and evil. No common Gods. We've all been divided, conquered, divided, conquered- again as conquered peoples. So it is down to us to become the Gods, to become our stories, to find our heroes and our virtues- so that they may knot and chafe and that we might will something beautiful into creation.

But willing, with our words comes against the obstacle of itself.

Language

He who controls language, controls the speaker. He who controls speakers, controls rhetoric. He who controls rhetoric, controls politics, education, writing, reading, ideas, criticism and in all ways... power.

This is one of the principle points of George Orwell's seminal work, 1984. Newspeak is a language full of missing words, missing ideas, missing notions, and ways of expression. As a result, speaking of these ideas became clunky. Jargon. Obscure. A joke.

I do not subscribe to the views of the political left- but observing the way language is. Eggshells, clunky expressions as to not offend anyone, holy words that will render you digitally crucified. Even religion, in all of its holiness could not have better zealots, as taking God's name in vain, will not bind you to a cross.

X marks the spot. Dig, and there will be treasure. But X has the burdens. Dig, and bear the cross.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the point is this. Your words, are powerful if used correctly. Avoid English modal words like coulds and shoulds, and will what you want into being. Will it by words. Sow the Golden Seeds of your future.

Published on 2023/08/15