Speak Magic Words
Originally published June 4th, 2024
“You speak magic words.” Woah.
Jordan Peterson to comedian Andrew Schulz. Schulz is visibly moved. An unforgettable clip.
Peterson explains: each time Schulz climbs on stage, he’s using a tool available to eight billion humans: his voice. Nothing more. But by nature or nurture, he’s able to wield this mundane tool in miraculous ways. By stringing up the right order of words, layered with timing and tone, Schulz moves people to their depths. Roaring laughter. Tears of joy.
It’s not just comedians. It’s all of us.
- An impassioned riff that wins over your one-day future wife? Magic words.
- Your incessant repetition of a newfound identity shift? Magic words.
- The just-right responses that lead to a life-changing Fellowship? Magic words.
The power of language is gob-smackingly underrated. By default we believe language is descriptive — words describe the world. No! That’s Cathy-Newman-level wrong. Ready for some more magic words?
Language is not descriptive.
It’s Generative.
The words we speak — self-talk, morning journal, lunchtime chats, casual texts — unfurl our future. Each sentence a spell, unassuming incantations lobbed into the white-hot infinite of possible future, sent to retrieve the exact reality you declare.
Every sentence matters. Every. Single. One.
Jung says The world will ask you what you are, and if you do not know the world will tell you. Speak magic words! Tell the world who you are, over and over and over again. “I, [NAME] am ______________.” Why? “Because I said so!”
Heller says Be careful of how you see the world; it is that way. Speak magic words! Wrangle your ideal world into existence with the staggering power of your vocal cords.
Vonnegut says We are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful what we pretend to be. Speak magic words! Let your language reflect your best-case aspirational self. It’ll be real soon enough.
As Christ himself taught us, we are bold to say: “I am, I am, I AM!”
May we all speak magic words.