New Words become placeholders for stories

I was having a conversation with a dear friend last weekend. In that conversation, she told me she was feeling "gladder" about something - and quickly followed that up with - I'm not even sure "gladder" is a word.

There was a day when it would have been pretty important for me to settle that one. Do not pass go and do not collect $200 until we are certain gladder is a word. Because if it's not, I'm in the middle of a conversation that is violating all English language laws, which makes it not really a conversation at all.

In this conversation, that wasn't important to me. What was important is I knew exactly what she was feeling about her situation. I knew gladder was the perfect word for the story that moment was trying to tell me.

Maybe it was indeed a new word. In his blog yesterday, Seth Godin said, "New words give us new ways to understand the world, because new words come with stories attached."

Today, I'm still not 100% sure whether gladder is a word or not. But it will be forever attached to a story - to a place and a time and a moment. The word gladder will always leave me feeling gladder about things...

One of the things I love doing more and more when I'm reading my bible, is tracing back the origins of the words bible characters used. I love tracing them back to the stories that brought them to life.

A lot of times we get hung up memorizing the words in the bible so we are poised to quickly quote them to ourselves or others. But more and more, I'm most interested in memorizing the moments - the stories that gave birth to the quotes.

Where were these people when they shared these quotes?

Were they happy or sad or mad?

Were they sitting next to each other or writing each other in a letter?

Was it late at night - like the last supper - when words were spoken in exhaustion. Or was it early morning, when the words were as new and fresh as that first cup of black coffee?

Clearly words are at the heart of our relationships. Whether we speak them or write them or sign them to one another - words matter. But they only matter because they tell a story - and sometimes, in the very coolest of moments, words are invented right there, on the spot, just to make sure that story is told just right.

Have you ever invented a word? Do you have any words that are placeholders for a story?

I hope so. Feel free to share them. It would make me gladder if you did. 😊🤷‍♂️