Tag: power of words

Have you ever stopped to recall some of things you have heard over your lifetime? Think about all of the commencements you’ve attended; from junior-high to senior high, perhaps college, and others. What made that memorable to the point where you can recall the points of the speaker, even after years have passed?

Three points to ponder

The Honorable Loretta H Rush, Chief Justice of the State of Indiana, delivered a very memorable keynote at the IU Maurer School of Law Commencement today. Key points and takeaway: Shake it up, Show up, and Speak up. Shake it up – be bold, challenge the norm, be brave. Show up – sometimes, the greatest opportunity we are presented with is to simply show up, be present, be THERE. Speak up – never let an opportunity pass you by to speak up. So, shake it up – be the difference … show up, be intentional, be deliberate, be engaged … and speak up … for those with no voice, for those who need YOUR voice. Thanks to the Chief Justice, for her challenge to action! – David Peter, May 6, 2017.

Show up

I have and make it a conscious and intentional act to be present. It has become part of who I am, to show up at the things important to me. When I was Dean of the Library at Vincennes University, I was fortunate to have a group of wonderfully talented librarians whose deep understanding of the value of reading and how that was at the core of their profession. The library would sponsor a celebration of banned books yearly, bringing attention to the importance of full access to books without any sort of filter. Students would sign up to read passages at a performance. Faculty and several administrators would come and participate as well. Community members would attend and several would participate as well. To appreciate the significance of the event, consider that in some places here in this country, and overseas, such gatherings would be labelled as acts of disobedience. And, when the content that is being read is added, some might label it is inappropriate or worse! But here these individuals were, present at this event.

How can you show up?

• Go to the events, the meetings, the presentations, the performances of those things you care about greatly. You don’t have to be showy or ostentatious, just be present.
• If invited to attend, go there. Sometimes the invitation may have been made because your compassion is known, appreciated and acknowledged by someone.

Speak out

Speaking up is a skill or ability that can only be refined after time has given opportunity to speak, and speak and speak again. Practice is for me the most efficient way to become a better speaker. I will sometimes read memorable speeches from Lincoln, Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr., sermons of John Wesley, poetry from Amanda Gorman, Maya Angelou, following the words, the visual images formed into words, and the rhythm. Not seeking to be anyone but myself, I read to refine and focus my oratorical abilities.

How can you speak up?

• Engage in a conversation, a dialogue if you will, with one person. Share ideas, concerns and questions.
• The time may come, or may not, for a larger audience to hear your words. Speak with confidence, and speak with conviction.

Shake it up

Most of the people who know me in a range of settings, locations, and over periods of time would not say I am a protestor, not an agitator, not a disrupter; perhaps even more describe me as a non-violent sort of fellow. I just do not see myself as the one who would throw something, resort to violence; more than not, I am more of a non-violent protestor. Don’t get me wrong, I can write a letter advocating for something that lies at the core of who I am. If I shake things up, it is with the written word.

How to shake it up

• I’m still working on this part myself. I’m just not quite sure how to be a more vocal and visible disruptor. It’s just not me.

Final things

Seven years later, here I am. These words continue to resonate with me. Three simple things. Nothing more and nothing less. In the midst of all the discord of the day, and yearning to find that balance needed, don’t three simple rules make all the sense?