Spells Are Just Words

In my corporate life, I could memorize anything. Value propositions. Competitive differentiators. The 30-second elevator pitch. Slide decks I’d barely written but had to deliver with conviction, as though they were gospel. I made it look effortless — and for a long time, it was. But inside, something always felt hollow.

Those words weren’t mine. And because they weren’t mine, they held no real power.

I spent years speaking someone else’s truth, trying to embody a language that was disconnected from my own lived experience. The words landed, sure — they impressed, convinced, maybe even closed deals — but they didn’t resonate. And I didn’t know it at the time, but I was caught in someone else’s spell.

Language is Magic

There’s a reason we say “spelling” when we talk about writing words. Words are spells. Language has always been a form of magic — one that can bind, free, confuse, or illuminate. As author Adrienne Maree Brown writes in Emergent Strategy, “Words are spells... naming is magic.”

Once I left the corporate world and began exploring my own inner work — through coaching, parts work, and plant medicine — I started to hear things differently. I noticed how much of what we say isn’t actually ours. We repeat song lyrics, taglines, Instagram captions, and “best practices” without ever checking: Is this true for me?

We live in a culture full of enchantments — commercial jingles, beauty standards, self-help slogans, startup mantras. They act like incantations, shaping how we see the world and ourselves. Some parts of us absorb them in order to belong, to feel safe, to succeed.

Parts That Echo, Parts That Create

Through Internal Family Systems (IFS), I came to see that some of my inner parts were still rehearsing scripts from long ago. A high-achieving part that parroted corporate jargon to prove her worth. A people-pleasing part that softened her language so she wouldn’t rock the boat. A protector part that stayed silent, afraid that her real voice might sound “too much.”

But as I started listening more deeply, other parts emerged. Parts that had been waiting patiently for years to speak. Parts that were poetic, raw, honest, and wildly alive.

These parts didn’t use buzzwords. They told the truth.

They whispered spells I hadn’t been taught — they came from somewhere deeper. And when I allowed those words to come through me, I noticed something shift. People didn’t just hear me. They felt me. Because those were my spells.

Breaking Old Spells, Casting New Ones

I realized I’d spent years under enchantments that told me what success looked like, what professionalism sounded like, how power should be expressed. And I’m not alone. We all internalize spells — from families, institutions, media, culture. Some are beautiful and empowering. Others are limiting and extractive.

As the poet and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs writes, “Our words are our wands. Our breath is our power. Our attention is sacred.”

The turning point came when I began listening not to what I should say, but to what wanted to be said — from the inside. That’s when everything started to change. In my client work, my writing, my relationships, my self-talk. The more I listened, the more powerful and true my words became.

Spells That Heal

Today, I help my clients do the same. We sit together in stillness and ask, “Whose voice is that?”

We notice the scripts they’ve memorized — the old value props of their lives — and gently inquire, “What wants to be said instead?”

We let parts speak, even the scared or cynical ones. Especially those. And in time, their authentic language begins to emerge. Not polished. Not perfect. But potent.

It’s like watching someone remember a song they wrote long ago but forgot how to sing. That’s the magic. That’s the spell.

Your Words Are Waiting

If you’ve ever felt like your words don’t quite fit, like you’re reciting instead of revealing — you’re not broken. You might just be under someone else’s spell. And your own is waiting.

So, speak the awkward truth. Let your voice tremble. Say the thing you’ve never heard before but know in your bones.

Those are the words that will change everything.