The Good Word

By Kelli Alvarez

This piece is part of a series by the Global Vision Initiative titled “Lost in Translation”. To read more, please head to our Medium account or to our website here.

Anyone who knows me knows that I swear a lot and with enthusiasm. Part of it is that I recognize that they are just words. Like most other words, they only have power if you allow them to have power (obviously racism and hate are excluded from this). If me saying fuck offends you, then that’s a you problem. If you don’t want your kids to say swear words, then that’s how you teach them. Those are your kids, not mine. Oh, but Kelli, it takes a village. Right you are. But if my words offend you, and you are seeking to silence me in any way, then I am not part of your village my friend. If you have to ask someone not to be their authentic self, then you don’t care about them as much as you claim you do. And if we need to have that conversation later, we surely can. I swear to convey my emotions, my thoughts, and my frustrations. For the most part, they are just words.

Who decided which words are good words and which words are bad words? Seriously think about it. Did a religion determine these qualifications? My parents told me so, but we no longer have the same religion so those rules don’t really apply now, do they? Just because your religion tells you to behave a certain way, doesn’t mean it tells me, a non-believer, to behave that way, too. I reject that authority. So, beyond that, who determines what words are good or bad? And let’s not limit this to…