The Power of Letters

During the recent Jewish High Holidays, I led some workshops about the mysticism of the Hebrew Aleph Bet, something I find pretty darn fascinating. To the Jewish mystics, the Hebrew letters were more than system of communication. Each letter had it's own spiritual energy and direction. This is such a huge conceptual leap for us.
In English, an A is an A. But to some, an Aleph is more than the first letter. It has the strength of an ox and unites the heavens with the earth. Our B is a B. But a Bet has the essence of home in it, of warmth and new beginnings. Each of the 22 Hebrew letters has its own unique attributes.
For the mystics, the power of the Aleph Bet was undeniable. The letters, or at least their spiritual essences, existed even before creation. After all, in Genesis, the world is created by God's words (Let there be light) and we can't have words without letters. In another tale, the mystics comment that when Moses broke the stones of the 10 Commandments, the rock shattered but the letters ascended to heaven.
Clearly, as writers, (and more importantly, as people) we need to be aware of the power of our words. Do we choose them to create or destroy? Do we use them to comfort or hurt?
Every now and then, we owe it to ourselves to ponder the power and the process of communicating. Oh yeah, let's not forget to dot our iiii and cross our tttt. Who knows what will happen if we start to abuse them.

Welcome to the new wwworld

As progressive and techno-savvy a middle-aged guy like me tries to be, I must say, this has been a pretty exciting day. My web site is now up and open to the world. How the site came to be is part of this new wwworld.

It was designed by Margarida Girao (www.margaridagirao.com.) in Portugal. I found her on one of the better web portfolio sites. We emailed back and forth about what we like. And once we negotiated the price and figured how to pay in Euros, it was easy.

Despite differences in language and the silly emails they caused, it went very smoothly. Like any good designer, she was able to offer suggestions that helped me clarify how to convey my brand of advertising. It was a micro example of what our macro world has become. Talent is only as far away as your mouse (or should I say iPhone or Blackberry).

I don't know if the world is flat as the futurists say. But I do know its easier to contact more people, learn more things, and find more intriguing talents than ever before. For me, this past month has been a living example of how it makes advertising and communication more exciting. Heck, not just advertising...life.