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“…One ought to recognize that the present political chaos is connected with the decay of language, and that one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end.” George Orwell

At this Orwellian moment in the history of democracy, humanity, the Earth and all its inhabitants, playing with words can seem like a frivolous endeavor. Yet, the subversive double-speak and tale-telling backtalk in ordinary English words may in some way contribute to the chaos we’re enduring right now. Thus, wordplay can be an excellent way to discover hidden verbal persuaders, and begin to upgrade this leading software of the Western Mind. That’s why my tagline for WordMagic Global is: WordPlay That Unravels Mass Hypnosis –– and Elevates the Frequency of Consciousness.

As many of us heard in an early childhood nursery rhyme, ‘Life is but a dream.’ So, how telling it is that Life’s Dream and Life Stream sound virtually identical. Could it be that they actually are? Is the current nightmare we are living, with all its punning metaphors, something we’re collectively conjuring as we think, speak and write?

Take, for instance, the word Justice. It sounds a whole lot like Just Us, which is precisely how it’s being administered in police brutality controversies. And look at how Attorney General William Barr has lowered the legal bar in support of a president who envies DICKtators, is dead set on TRUMPing everyone, and uses his Bully Pulpit to exhort his followers to violently bully the opposition. Then, there are all the groan-up a-dolt enablers in the Senate who give Trump their uncritical loyalty and unquestioning support. Consider, as well, the acronym, ICE — a blatant description of what flows through the veins of so many Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. And how about that great, insurmountable wall that separates the rich from the poor: Wall St.?

Here’s what Occupy Wall St. activist and anthropologist, David Graeber, pointed out before he died: “The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make and could just as easily make differently.”

The fact that the World derives from the Word is self-evident. But have you noticed that all that separates the comic from the coSmic is the Letter S, a symbol for tran-S-formation? Apparently we’re living in Toon Town — a nightmarish Life’s Dream filled with obvious puns that are jabbing us in the funny bone with an urgent message to Wake Up.

That’s why I conclude The Time of Our Lives, a Rap I haven’t yet shared, this way :

It rarely comes to our attention that this is just a dream dimension —

but we wake now or no doubt lingers, the Life’s Dream will slip through our fingers!

Nine centuries ago, the Persian mystic poet Rumi wrote, “Speak a new language so the world will be a new world.”  The ultimate point of the 4-Pt. WordMagic Presentation and Conversation is to explore together how we can literally Heal the Word to Heal the World. Join in on the fun. To find out more, please click here.

Laurel Airica

My abiding fascination with the English language has enabled me to develop great skill in using it to express ideas that make a positive difference in people’s lives.