Words, both written and spoken have immense power – to hurt or to heal, yourself or others. It’s not just what others say though, it’s also what we say to or about ourselves. When someone asks “How are you?”, is your instinctive response “Not bad”, or “Good”, or perhaps “OK”? If you were to pause for a moment, would you choose a different response? Words evoke emotion and impact how we feel so choosing wisely can make a difference. Bright White Life was chosen for a reason. Let me explain more …
I’m Julie – I’ve been passionate about words and language since I can remember. As a child, I loved to read and write. I saw books as my way to learn, escape, and explore – and when the day was done I enjoyed putting pen to paper, whether composing poems, journaling or writing letters, expressing my feeling with words. I would sit with my parents trying to understand the cryptic crosswords, and challenged my grandma to Scrabble whenever she came to stay. My dad tells me how when I started primary school the teachers were shocked I could already read and write. I was described as ‘bright’, and that’s just one definition of the word. At junior school, I studied Latin, which opened me up to the history of the English language and sparked an interest in how language has evolved. Foreign languages followed, yet it was the English Language that fascinated me most, so I went on to study English and Linguistics at The University of Sheffield, in the glorious county of Yorkshire. It was here where my interest in accents and dialect grew and my curiosity about language continued.
The English language is so very varied – one word can have multiple meanings depending on context (‘bright’ is just one such word), yet we can also have several words for just one thing (sofa, settee, or couch, is there really a difference?). Several different words can be pronounced just the same (to, too and two). And that’s before we even venture into the topic of grammar and punctuation! There is a grammar rule that explains why its ‘bright white’ rather than ‘white bright’ but as native English speakers we somehow just know this.
So next time someone asks “How are you?”, with such a vast and varied vocabulary to draw from, rather than simply replying “OK” could you choose a different response?
So why choose Bright White Life?
Why BRIGHT? Well, it has multiple meanings, all of which hold relevance in the context of coaching. There are four Meanings of BRIGHT (Source: Cambridge English Dictionary online):
- LIGHT: Full of light
- STRONG: Strong in colour
- INTELLIGENT: Intelligent and quick to learn
- HAPPY: Full of hope for success or happiness
As a coach our role is to shine light on what is important, to help you focus; we encourage you to recognise your strengths and build on them; we are passionate about learning for ourselves and for our clients; and we are most definitely full of hope as that is what fuels growth and improvement.
Why WHITE? I’m Julie White – founder of Bright White Life – so I wanted my name to be some element of the brand. Simple.
Why LIFE? That’s why we are here – life is about continual growth, and a series of choices and decisions, each of which moves us forward. And it is also about balance – we need to be honest with ourselves that we can’t have everything, but through coaching we can help you identify your areas of focus and support you to grow and develop where you need to find that growth and balance.
In short, I hope you choose us to help make your life brighter, in every sense of the word.
