I love to play with words.
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I love handwriting them, typing them and reading lots and lots of them - especially when they are well strung together.
I love the beauty, drama, rhythm and rhyme of language. I employ words to communicate; to share my life stories, to celebrate my sense of joy in living and to illustrate my worldview - how I see the human existence and from where.
I'm sure there have been plenty of times in this column during the past 17 years of Mondays when my words haven't conveyed exactly what I really meant; when the words I chose haven't achieved the mutual understanding I'd aimed for.
There were probably times my silliness seemed off-key to some people and I'm absolutely sure there were occasions when readers held different opinions to mine.
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They are only words though, being used to explain and entertain, but we all bring a lot of baggage to the table when it comes to our reaction to words don't we?
We each need to take responsibility for this individual reaction to words, separating our identity from our opinions, enabling us to look at the world through another person's understanding and intention.
We must control our reaction, as we certainly should not control the words others use.
Apparently, there are some people in 2021 who consider themselves to be so incredibly perfect that they think everyone else on the planet should use their words only, and that history should be rewritten to take out any words they don't react well to.
Am I the only person who has studied the Holocaust where books were burned?
Did no one else read George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' where Thought Police reigned?
Hopefully, no one will bother changing my nearly 900 columns, which are bound to be full of 'gaffs' and 'faux pas'.
Surely if the Thought Police begin first with dad jokes, they'll keep busy.
Dad jokes are, after all, just silly comments that claim a smile, break the ice and relax the mood.
I get the impression that Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was always ready with a dad joke, and like me, he was probably sometimes misunderstood even though well-intentioned.
We must study history to learn from it. Vale Prince Philip.
Yolande Grosser is a regular contributor to the Wimmera Mail-Times.