Choosing the just right word is a skill and an art. It not only requires having a vast lexicon but, it also requires the speaker to be a good listener who hears with her eyes, hears with her head and hears with her heart. Elizabeth skillfully uses the limitless tool of language at her disposal in ways that artfully and “heartfully” convey meaning and make those receiving her words think deeply.
As a poet and a public speaker, Elizabeth’s language usage is her super power. She uses words as a transformational tool to put the listener’s head at ease while commanding that their heart pay attention. She uses language as her super power to bring forth awareness of social issues and ideas. She uses language as her super power to creatively help the listener problem solve and conjure up solutions. She uses language as her super power to instill hope in humanity.
These, among other reasons, are some of the things that I admire about Elizabeth. She inspires so many of us to put forward our best selves through her use of words and poetic phrasing.
During our conversation Elizabeth talks of creating a whole series of writings based on staring at her favorite teacup. This requires several abilities. It requires one to still their mind and to clear their thoughts. It requires one to block out the extremities of the world and focus on the simple details that are in front of them. It requires one to provide the object of observation with undivided, concerted attention and sum up the just right language to articulate and convey meaning that transcends the superficial. She did this with a teacup. She does this with people also.
The ability to really listen to someone, truly listen, with undivided, concerted attention in order to provide feedback on what the person actually said is more than just a skill. It is the measure of one’s ability to selflessly focus their attention on others and give the best part of themselves to others. Elizabeth is the rare public speaker whose goal is not just to be heard yet, she wants to help you hear yourself. She and I have spent many a time talking where she drops a nugget of thought in my lap that has changed my trajectory for the better. This is where her expert delivery is both calming and simultaneously disarming as she also artfully employs humor at the just right time, peppered with real world, worldly, global experiences.
Her experiences and her hindsight showed through for me personally during our conversation. I mentioned my personal, internal debate about feminism in 2018 and my inner debate about where I sit within this paradigm. It is through her words that I begin to see the links on my chain of personal self-development that give me license to choose for me and not for others.
In the short years that I have known Elizabeth these are talents that I have admired about her. She has these abilities and they not only serve her well but, they serve those around her whom she mentors and supports. My lessons in language usage from Elizabeth have been vast. And, thankfully, class is still in session.
Click on the video below to hear this Bronx girl dish on her life and love of language as a creative woman. You will think deeply, laugh lightly and smile softly. I promise.
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