Watch the Adjectives

We all have someone in our lives that can find the negative perspective to anything. Perhaps as a writer, I give more focus to adjectives, but they are powerful! There are two completely different images in your mind when you read, 'the tranquil sea was the perfect setting for . . .' and 'the raging sea was the perfect setting for . . .' Now if I'd have just written 'the sea was the perfect setting for . . .' you'd have still been picturing a large body of water, but the two adjectives literally created images a world apart. In the case of the sea, it's great to have an accurately descriptive adjective, but in the case of things that may not seem matters of life and death, adjectives can make a real impact.

I just came in from the garden and although it's nowhere close to the terms I'm using at this point, it's still a great example of my actual point. Think of the different picture you form in your mind when you hear these two words that can have similar meaning, but . . . Her garden was lush. Her garden was overgrown. Lush gives the image of big green thriving plants, probably with produce or at least blossoms in the foliage. Overgrown could indicate large plants, but more often than not, it's describing neglect or an abundance of weeds. Our adjectives should convey one thing specifically, but actually conveys two. The one things we count on when an adjective is used is an accurate description of the noun. The second thing I've come to understand about adjectives is how much they reveal about the person using them.

I've become acutely aware of people that always have a negative adjective to include. I made the mistake of allowing someone to see my inventory room. Now the mistake was not in showing it. As the post 9/11 Bushites used to say, "I've got nothing to hide." I was actually hoping to, of course, drum up some business by inviting that individual into that room. I was shocked and I don't why, knowing this person as I do, but as they looked at all the work I had put into establishing a new business, the comment was simple and amazingly insightful. They said, "Oh, this is your hording room!" Perhaps they are more television minded and not so gifted at vocabulary, but until that moment, I hadn't realized it, then I began to notice. Every noun, person, place, and thing, was described with a negative intonation or degrading adjective, or both . . .

Which brings me to the word of caution I want to share. Negativity can be contagious and certainly downgrading. Something else to consider, if a person uses negative adjectives and gives negative reports on other people, you can count on the same thing being said about you, behind your back. We all know if all we hear out of someone is something negative about someone else, that's what someone else is going to hear about us from that same individual, but I'm suggesting even more in this than the classic gossip. It is a serious character defect in the individual doing the talking, but as a society, we tend to prefer to believe bad reports as good ones.

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. a Proverb of Holy Scripture