Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor

Some words leave you breathless. The idea of anything being described as pathological for one. Then there are words like disrespectful, unsolicited, insulting, accusing, and anything else that personifies negativity that would leave you wondering whether evil exists in anything that spews words in this way. I am in a phase of my life where words matter and to read these words used to describe a person has me speechless and wondering why such hate? What could have even triggered so much venom to describe anything and anyone as disgusting?

But then I am reminded by the Kenyan proverb that you cannot climb two trees at the same time just because you have two legs. If you are going to use these words to describe anything and anyone, then be prepared for consequences the use of these words entail. Anyone who holds another in the mud must be prepared to stay in that same mud to keep the person down. Fortunately truth is rarely completely lost and if there is some truth behind how words have meaning, then I pity the person for whom they are used against. Plain and simple, there is hate in their heart for you. Know this and know peace.

To be called pathological or disrespectful, disgusting or insulting puts humanity beyond every conceivable pale. Words used like this are rash, especially from mouths that spew them without restraint. It’s unlikely that the speaker has reasoned out the Igbo saying that the thought which leads a man to kill himself cannot be merely one night old. I am quite certain that many events have urged the speaker towards a total rapture. And when their world crumbles, when all their hate has been spewed through these words, then a strong enough lesson is left behind for anyone for whom these words are used against. The lesson, things will always be as they seem. Don’t deceive your self with unity or even love where only hate exists. Moreover, people’s words are shaped by the context in which they operate. If they call you pathological or disgusting, or anything else doused with hate, chances are that the madness belongs first to them. They are only finally dancing to their tune.