What does it mean to embellish words? Thinking about what it means to be yourself

Are you choosing safe words when you write?

Gently lining up inoffensive words so as not to hurt anyone or make any mistakes.

That in itself is by no means a bad thing.

If you have felt lately that even though your writing is well-composed, it lacks a sense of impact, then today's story will likely resonate with you.

The more you polish your words in that way, the more you might feel, when reading them back later, that they are slightly detached from who you are.

A sense of discomfort, as if something uniquely yours is missing, even though you have written it well.

In this article, I will share a small experience I had when I realized something after I stopped trying so hard to embellish my words and relaxed a little.

Before I knew it, I was overthinking my word choices

I used to choose safe, inoffensive words so as not to hurt anyone or cause any friction.

Writing that was adjusted so as not to make definitive statements or assertions, ensuring it wouldn't be a problem no matter how the reader interpreted it.

That was certainly safe, and I think it was one way to get it right.

It wasn't wrong, and I couldn't be blamed for it.

In that sense, it was a very safe way to write.

However, back then, I had almost no awareness that I was embellishing my words.

I intended to write my true feelings, and I didn't feel like I was lying.

But looking back now, I feel it was a bit different in terms of whether those words actually reached the reader.

Even though I thought I was writing honestly, there was a certain distance.

Even though I intended to convey something, I didn't feel like it had truly gotten across.

Have you ever felt, when reading your own work back, like, 'Whose writing is this?'

I think the true nature of that discomfort was that I had been choosing my words too carefully.

The day I wrote in plain language, I felt a little more at ease.

One day, there was a moment when I felt that maybe it was okay to express what I wanted to say a little more honestly.

The trigger was something very close to home.

A close follower of mine was writing down their feelings and thoughts in plain language, and it was being read by many people.

They weren't using particularly strong words, nor were they putting things together in a clever way.

Even so, people were genuinely drawn to that writing, and there were reactions left behind.

Seeing that, I felt a little weight lift off my shoulders, realizing that I didn't have to polish my words to make them look nice.

It doesn't mean I have to use plain language, either.

I feel it was closer to the sense that I didn't have to choose my words too much.

Since then, even if not for everything I want to convey, I have started to write frankly, at least in parts.

Rather than worrying about what the reader might think, I started to think only about whether the reader could feel it. I began to focus on that one point.

I came to realize that it was okay to write while thinking only about that.

Because of that, the time I spend writing has become a little easier.

Conclusion: Being yourself is what remains after you've trimmed away the excess.

I used to think that being yourself was something you created by adding things.

I think I believed that by choosing words, polishing them, and arranging them to look correct, the outline of myself would become clearer.

But in reality, what remains after trimming away the unnecessary words might be much closer to who I really am.

You don't have to embellish. You don't have to force yourself to be strong.

As long as what you want to convey is placed as honestly as possible, that is enough.

Lately, that is how I have been thinking while I write.

Which words would you like to trim down a little right now? Even just one is fine.

Today, too, I think I will choose to lighten my words rather than add to them.