Word.

There are very few things in this world that are as deeply, intrinsically, lastingly satisfying to me than finding those perfect words to describe exactly how I feel or what I think at any given moment about any given thing. Words are a beautiful and dangerous and mystifying thing to me. I love to play with them, throw them around, taste them and figure out which ones are delicious. I appreciate how people put them together to make a whole thought, or how they omit a few to let our imaginations take over, or, like the poets, how they switch them around and create new ones until you have a brand new playground on which your senses and imagination can sprawl and soar. I love learning new words and new ways to describe the old ones. Words are just about one of my favorite things. It's why I love to read, to write, to scrapbook, to sing, to explore, to listen, to dream.

It's probably one of my best qualities, this passion for words. Especially as a teacher. My enthusiasm for words is almost contagious, once I get rolling on and on about it. I think everyone ought to have a few favorite words to whip out of their pockets now and then.

There's a fantastic little book that explores this idea. Kenya's Word, by Linda Trice and illustrated by Pamela Johnson, is the newest addition to my book collection. In it, Kenya delves through all the words that mean anything to her until she finds exactly the right word to sum up her entire existence. I'll let you discover what that word is for itself, but if you're a word-lover like me, you should check out this little picture book and see where your tongue takes you. :)