THE JOY OF WORDS

Oh the sheer joy of waking bright and early with an idea in your head that you’ve been cultivating all night, chasing it through dreams to waking. What a shiver of delight as you anticipate the luxury of sitting down at your desk and running your fingers through a huge mound of fresh enticing words that you can pick up separately then put to one side until you find just the right ones to express your thoughts.

You take them one by one, hold them up to the light to examine their qualities carefully before beginning to weave your tale, going over it again and again to lovingly add embellishments of twinkling adverbs and sparkling adjectives, or even to delicately moderate the tone; savouring the nuances of each one until you get just the right colour and flavour.

Then - such indescribable joy and pride when, work done to your satisfaction, you send them away with an encouraging smile to meet the world, smoothing down their squeaky clean hair; all shiny of face and gleaming of teeth; each paragraph carrying a lunchbox bulging with the promise of as yet undiscovered goodies.

You savour the bitter-sweet pride and the satisfaction of a job well done as you wave your offspring off into the unknown, a place full of mysterious dangers and great delights; then you embrace the thumping of your heart and the emptiness of the day as you await the return of the loved ones, anxious to hear how they fared without the comfort of your guiding hand.

Such happiness when one arrives home beaming with pride at some achievement which has been rewarded with a plethora of praise; and such sadness when another comes in, feet dragging, head cast down in disappointment at the lack of reward or appreciation. You spread wide your arms to each one, share their joys and sorrows alike, and together mull over what can be altered or improved. ‘Never mind child’ you say, ‘All will be well in the morning’.

And when day is done, and all thoughts and experiences have been shared and evaluated, new expressions chosen and broken hearts repaired, all can rest in the knowledge that once again the mountain of wondrous words will be waiting and jostling with each other for your rapt attention.

Tomorrow is indeed another day.