Finding a Life With Emotion: The Power of Words

The beauty of literature, of writing doesn’t come from the words themselves. The beauty comes from the concept that by putting a few black symbols on a white page, a writer can convert an imaginary image of emotion to another human being, can make another person feel the soul moving feeling of a connection.

As an English teacher, I am always asked: why do we even need to interpret literature? What’s the point. My answer is always the same: literature connects us with our humanity, helps us feel something. What could be more important than that?

I am always finding things in my life that move me, that make me feel something. It can be a song like Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph.” It can be a movie scene like the kiss in The Notebook or the final scene of Fault in Our Stars. Sometimes it’s a story on Facebook, an image on Twitter. Life, in my opinion, is about these moments, the moments that make us feel emotion at its core, whether that emotion be love, happiness, or sorrow.

This is perhaps why I love my role as a writer so much. I love the thought that by combining words in a particular way, I can convey deep feelings, can connect with people, can cause them to pause and remember, reflect, or see an idea in a new way.

Words truly are power. Words can remind us we are human, remind us we are all connected, and remind us the world is truly an immense place full of things to explore.

Happy reading and happy writing!

Lindsay Detwiler, author