Language as a Mirror

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

The change I made today was not in my clothes, my surroundings, or my habits—it was in my words. For years, I spoke without realizing the weight of what I was saying. I had picked up foul, cutting phrases from outsiders, believing I was simply learning their language. But what I was really learning was a distorted reflection of it.

When I tried to immerse myself in their speech, they didn’t teach me the beauty or richness of their vocabulary. Instead, they slipped in its worst parts—its rusted edges. I repeated those words, thinking I was fitting in, until the day I used them back on the very people who taught me. That was the moment the mirror cracked.

I became their enemy overnight. My name was added to their silent blacklist. I couldn’t understand why—after all, I had only reflected what they had given me.

It was later, while learning the proper form of their language online, that I realized the truth: the words they gave me were never meant to build a bridge. They were weapons disguised as lessons, a subtle form of bullying meant to keep me at a distance. It was a defense mechanism, a way to shun outsiders, to guard their culture from being fully understood. They feared their language might be “invaded” if others truly learned it, so they gave me its poison instead of its poetry.

The irony is painful. How can a society expect its commerce, its culture, or its humanity to grow if it refuses to share its language openly? A shallow mind builds walls where open hearts could build connections.

I see now how this shaped me. Their language became my mirror—and it reflected the ugliest parts back at the world. When I spoke to strangers, my words carried an edge that was never truly mine. That is why I have chosen silence for a time—not as a retreat, but as a cleansing.

I want my language to become a mirror that reflects kindness, not bitterness. I want my words to soften, to be warm enough to melt suspicion, sweet enough to open doors. Because language is not just a tool for speaking—it is the face we show to the world. And the reflection we give others is often the one they return to us.