Yesterday’s post, Provocative. Disruptive. Me., was fun to write and ponder throughout the day. I appreciated the comments and the affirmation that these words are good, strong, and bold. I mentioned within that I might just define the two words in a later post. It’s later. Here they are defined:
provocative (adjective)
Meaning: serving or likely to arouse a strong reaction
Synonyms: exciting, inciting, instigating, piquing, provoking, stimulating
Related Words: explosive, fiery, incendiary, inflammatory, triggering, inducing, inspirational, inspiring, motivating, jeering, taunting, teasing, activating, energizing, galvanizing, quickening vitalizing, angering, enraging, maddening, upsetting, aggravating, annoying, bothersome, exasperating, galling, irksome, irritating, pesky, vexatious, vexingdisruptive (adjective)
Meaning: causing trouble, confusion
Synonyms: disorderly, distracting, disturbing, obstreperous, off-base, out-of-line, out-of-order, rowdy, troublemaking, troublesome, unruly, unsettling, upsetting
One might say that not all of these words are descriptors you want attached to yourself. I’m don’t think I agree. Each of the terms that are more “negative” can also have a connotation that speaks to what I want to have be most true about me. I’m OK to be angering, enraging, or maddening because that usually means that I’m standing my ground on something that really matters. I’m OK to be obstreperous, out-of-line, and unsettling because that usually means that I’m taking risks, speaking the truth, and being myself.
I could go into a treatise on language; on the ways in which, particularly as women, we have learned to tone down our language (and ourselves) – to fit, to morph, to not upset any apple carts; to not be provocative or disruptive, for goodness’ sake! I’m not going there…at least today. For today it’s enough to hang on to both these words (and their synonyms) and wonder where I might live them even in the hours ahead…
Sometimes that takes faith – being me.
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