How to Use the Power of Words and Repetition to Reinforce Your Values
You’ll be surprised by all you start to notice
When I was a child, I used to kneel at my bedside with my father before bed. We’d pray together. Recite The Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm. I have no record of this but in my mind. How old was I? How long did it take me to memorize them? I don’t know, but they’re still in there.
I can only speculate on my father’s intent. When I consider the values espoused in those nightly recitations, though? I am thankful for whatever aspirational motivations moved him to lead me in prayer.
Grace. Goodness. Gratitude.
Even the act of prayer is a sort of supplication: to ask for something earnestly or humbly. The opposite of entitled demand. Yes.
The First 7 Years
Not well at all. That’s how I remember the first part of my life. The things that stand out are curious. One of those is a wall hanging. Maybe it was on a plate? Perhaps a wood plaque, shellacked with lacquer? Who knows. It wasn’t even one of the things I looked forward to as inheritance.
The poem “Desiderata,” by Max Ehrmann, was one I read as a child. I didn’t memorize it. When I regard the tone I took when I co-opted the second line in a bad poem I wrote, I’m embarrassed. My father never spoke to me about it. I wish he had.
I returned to the poem ten years ago. When I served as a student teacher at a rural high school in southwest Missouri. I struggled to reconcile what made me want to teach with the actuality. The poem afforded me peace.
Word Is Bond
The Fader magazine, Number 10, Winter 2001/02, published a first person essay by the poet Saul Williams. All this time, I’ve kept the magazine on my shelf and return to it. He encourages the reader to consider the power of language.
“When we sing along with a song are we operating off of our highest principles or are we saying things that we would take back if we seriously thought about it?”
When I read his admonition, I was in Joplin, MO. I’d drive to Springfield, MO, two or sometimes three times a week. 70+ miles, each way. I conducted a personal study. What I learned?
When I listened to Mozart? I drove more calmly and evenly. Certainly less aggressively than when I listened to Marshall Mathers.
What Influences Thought
There’s a reason that the Catholic Mass hasn’t changed for thousands of years. When we speak words aloud, we manifest them into reality. Maybe that’s too woo. Consider this, though: if you repeat a sentence or lyric dozens of times, do you think that will impact your thought and perception?
I remember I heard that prisoners of war were forced to write positive things about their enemies. Over and over again. Surveys taken of those prisoners’ opinions before and after imprisonment? Would you care to venture a guess? They were vastly different. Brainwashing is a thing.
Instead of the sound of my voice chanting along with lyrics that don’t align with how I want to see the world? Now I practice. I know it by heart and repeat it. I reinforce values and encouragement toward my highest principles.
What Do You Want To Perceive?
For me, the poem “Desiderata” embodies much of the way I want to move through the world. It appeals to my nobler angels. Since I started with its daily repetition? I feel more inclined to remember its guidance throughout my day.
It doesn’t need to be a poem. It can be a song that reminds you how important family is. It can be a TED Talk. If you focus on it? If you sing along with it? If you watch it a dozen times? You’re more likely to think about those things.
The more you think about anything, the more apt you are to perceive it.
In veritas, MW Mercer
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