Word Yourself Up
“Word up” is a slang phrase that originated in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) during the 1970s and 1980s. It gained prominence, especially in the hip-hop community. The phrase is used as an exclamation of agreement, enthusiasm, or affirmation, similar to saying “I agree,” “Yes,” or “That’s right”. To “word yourself up” is to use affirmative language, enthusiasm, intention, and self-talk as tools for personal empowerment and spiritual transformation.
Our words have power. They carry a vibrational frequency. Our thoughts do, too. That vibration attracts more of the same to itself. Whatever you’re thinking about right now is creating your next moment.
I recall hearing David Hawkins, author of Power vs. Force, speak at a conference I attended in Los Angeles. He shared some of his book content regarding levels of consciousness, muscle testing, and how to use your thoughts to transform your life. A few years later, Esther and Jerry Hicks introduced a similar scale, which they called the Emotional Guidance System.
Hawkins shared with us his attempt to pick up a stack of three of those giant encyclopedias. (You can try this at home!) Remember the kind you needed to use two hands to hold? His goal was to carry them from the living room up the stairs to his bedroom.
They were very heavy, and as he thought negative thoughts of anger and unforgiveness, he could barely lift the encyclopedias. He was finally able to lift them using all his might, but they were just too heavy for him to hold on to, and he dropped them before reaching the staircase.
In his next experiment, he planned to think of the words “Jesus Christ” and repeat them mentally over and over. He did this as he lifted the stack of encyclopedias with ease, carrying them up and down the stairs a couple of times and then all around his home.
Our words are not mere sounds; they are powerful codes that program our subconscious and shape our reality. As Ernest Holmes, founder of Science of Mind, observed, “There is a power for good in the Universe greater than you are, and you can use it.” When we speak carelessly—saying things like, “I’m so bad with money” or “This is gonna be really hard”—we activate frequencies that align with struggle and lack. The Universe, responding as a loving, creative Law, mirrors these statements back to us, organizing our reality to match. Knowing this to be the case, why not speak words that activate the frequencies that align with thriving, freedom, abundance, wholeness, vibrancy, love, and joy?
What conversations and thoughts are you having regularly? Are they love, light, and beauty-filled? That which you think about and speak about regularly affects your body, mind, and spirit. Feed your mind thoughts of beauty and light; speak words to others of kindness, joy, love, and happiness, and watch your world transform. To change the world, we must first change ourselves.
Word yourself up this week!
And so it is.
