LISTEN ON YOUR FAVE PLATFORM NOW: APPLE | SPOTIFY | STITCHER

Words are powerful. 

Have you ever just sat around and thought about that? 

(Okay, not many of us have time to just sit around and be a philosopher, but ya get my point).

We all use words every single day – and those words can heal, destroy or create change depending on how we use them. Words shape us and grow us. Words leave a legacy.

Knowing the weight words can have, sometimes it’s hard to find the right words to say. We become afraid that we’re gonna say the wrong thing, or we’re not gonna say enough. 

To address that fear and talk about the power of words, I chatted with spoken word poet and author Arielle Estoria on the podcast.

And friend, I think you’re gonna love what she has to share on vulnerability, creativity, and how we can leave a legacy.

START WHERE YOU ARE

There’s a good chance you’ve already heard Arielle speak before and just haven’t realized it. 

Ya know when you listen to the SHE Podcast, you hear that intro come on that says “Come invited, leave ignited?” 

Yep. That’s Arielle’s voice! And does she rock that intro or what?  👏

This girl started in the world of competitive slam poetry and since then has shared her words with places like Google, Lululemon, Dressember and TEDx. 

One of the things I love the most about her story is that she never set out to have a career in spoken word poetry. 

We talked about this on the episode and I love how she said it: “I didn’t set out to do this. I just knew this is what I’m supposed to do next, this is the void I feel called to fill in this world and this is how I think I’m supposed to do it in this season of my life.”

A lot of women often wonder what their purpose is in life and what they’re supposed to do. It creates a lot of confusion and worry that they’re not doing the right thing.

But hear me on this, friend:

Sometimes it’s not one thing that we’re called to. Most of the time we’re called to different things in different seasons and we just need to ask ourselves, like Arielle did, “What can I do right now in this season with the skills I’ve learned and the talents I have?”

Start where you are because where you’re at is exactly where you need to be and you already have the tools you need to start. 

HOW TO LEAVE A LEGACY 

Arielle and I talked about so many great things on this episode (trust me, you’re just gonna wanna take a listen), but I’ll share one thing that really stuck with me.

I asked her how words can be used to leave a legacy and, as a poet, she of course quoted the musical Hamilton, because where else would you go for inspiration? 🤷‍♀️ 😂

In the musical, there’s a line that goes: “What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you’ll never see.”

Wow. Just sit with that for a sec (and try not to sing the rest of the song). 

Arielle explained it like this. “Sometimes it’s less about chasing dreams or reaching goals and more about asking, ‘What can I do to plant things in society that will outlast me?’”

So.👏  true.👏

Just stick with me on this analogy. Think of your gifts and talents as seeds. You can put them in the dirt two very different ways: you can plant them or you can bury them. You can bury them and not use them, out of fear that you won’t be good enough (which BTW, is a lie, so stop thinking that).

Or you can plant them and see what grows. To plant is to risk, yes. But it’s also to invest and think forward to something that will outlast us. 

We may never see what grows. We may never see the result of the gifts we use and what we plant. But that’s the legacy that will outlive us. 

THE POWER OF WORDS

There are so many other nuggets of wisdom from this episode, but I’ll let you discover them when you listen!

This episode is for you if…

• You want to use your words to build others up and leave a legacy, this episode is for you.
• You’re a creative who’s ever struggled with the fear of sharing what you’ve made, this episode is for you.
• You’ve ever struggled to be vulnerable and open with other people, this episode is for you.

So what are you waiting for? Grab that blanket, pause the Hamilton soundtrack for a sec, and tune in to learn:

• The power of words and how to use them to leave a legacy
• How to promote an environment where people have permission to be vulnerable
• What showing vulnerability actually means
• How to tune out the noise and tune into your creativity
• How to get over the fear of saying the wrong thing, or failing in what you’re creating

Let us know in the comments: What is one thing you’re going to do differently today after hearing this episode?

P.S. If you wanna hear more from Arielle, go follow her on Instagram.