Words Are All Powerful

In my world, words are all powerful. We use them to motivate, cajole, remind, educate, inform, invite, inspire, and most importantly Sell More Better. It’s amazing how words themselves when said, depending on your age or circumstance, create such vivid recollections causing our emotions to run wild.

I say all this to illustrate my response in my head when my son, Jonathan, announced on Father’s Day that he had made arrangements for he and I to tour Vietnam for two weeks this September.

Having spent my early days learning my trade in New York City in the height of the Vietnam War, scenes of antiwar protest in Central Park flashed though my head when Jonathan told me. The Kent State massacre, Jane Fonda, Puff the Magic Dragon, napalm exploding across the TV screen, draft dodgers fleeing to Canada, Woodstock, Tricky Dick (Nixon), and Abby Hoffman. All wiz by in a matter of milliseconds.

Today, however, Vietnam is now the “it” place to travel. With the war some 30 years in the past, people are drawn to it’s crystal beaches and grand sea side vistas. Not to mention the ancient culture very different from our own. Needless to say, Vietnam will not be how I saw it all those years ago.

The word “Vietnam” brought up all of those memories and I associated it with all of those different people and events. Now, I look forward to “Vietnam” meaning so much more to me as Jonathan and I embark on our adventure later this September.

Stay tuned for updates from the road as I hope to share this experience not only with my son, but with everyone else as well!