“The Tao that can be named is not the Eternal Tao” - Tao Te Ching, Ch. 1

Totally agree with you on this one. Language screws us up more than we know. We mistake the labels for the real thing. We expect too much from our labels, and too often are disappointed when the reality of what the label originally pointed to isn’t what we thought.

The more important thing to focus on is the energy that we put out into the world. Are we just taking in the negativity and dishing it back out? Or are we transmuting that negativity into something kinder, softer, more loving? It’s hard to do oftentimes. I still struggle with it. But I remember the best advice my mom ever gave me, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.”