Mind your language!

It is no surprise to many of you that every now and then a curse word, swear word or profanity comes out of my mouth, or enters into one of my articles.

Now for some, the use of 'such language' is offensive, and considered inappropriate in the world of business.

World leaders who we got used to hearing drop the 'f-bomb' have now started holding back, like it's gone out of fashion; and the delightful word 'bullshit' has been severely slaughtered to the capital letters BS.

Being a farmer girl I can tell you that bull shit is very different to the other kinds of shit you will find on the land; and you know things have got to an all time high (or low) when you drive along the motorway and your husband at the time says "that horse shit stinks" and you turn to him and say "that's not horse shit, that's pig shit".

Yep, I can, or could, tell the difference.

What I find REALLY interesting, is people are not offended by negative language, fear based language or self sabotaging language.

In fact, read or listen to the people around you, even yourself, and you will hear it fall out of mouths left, right and centre.

Now I know many people will have stopped reading after the first 's word' dropped in this article, the 'Delicate Derek and Daises' that they are, but for those of you still reading, I salute you and your toughness in a world full of snow flakes and pretentiousness.

Now some people have attributed my use of swearing to being a sailor, and whilst swearing is common in certain aspects of the sailing world, it is also very common in the kitchens of high class restaurants; take the incredibly passionate Gordon Ramsey for example.

A man who inspires me and has done so since I trained as a chef way back when.

(And no, there's no limit to my many talents and skills, because I refuse to limit myself, just in case you were wondering).

Swear words are some of the first series of words we learn from the 'cheekies monkies' amongst us when we start to learn a new language.

'Fuck' is a word that is used and understood universally, and as we know has many meanings.

Some would say those who are offended by this word obviously haven't had a good one, but what ever your take on this word, it is one of the most expressive words of surprise, pain, frustration and delight the world over.

The word 'arse' or 'ass' is a slightly less offensive word, especially when we say 'let's kick some ass!' or a$$ ... and let's be honest ladies, when our man slaps us across the arse in a playful moment of foreplay, none of us can deny the excitement which pulses through our 'never regions'.

Again the 'c' bomb, the word 'pussy' all so terribly offensive to so many, but why? Isn't this a place of pure delight and brilliance, the entry point of where life itself begins?

For those of you who are still reading, welcome to the real world, and let's say our goodbyes to those who left 51 and 48 words ago, all hot under the collar and in dismay at such an article here on an 'oh so serious' business platform.

'We are business people!' 'This is a place of business!' 'How unprofessional!' yeah, and guess what, each and every single one of us are human beings and it is about time we all pulled out heads out of our backsides and got real with each other, stopped with the pretentious bullshit and owned who we are, instead of pretending to be something we are not just to fit in.

We were not born to fit into anything, because surely if we were meant to fit into anything, none of us would grow, expand or evolve into a new version of self with every new life lesson or personal and professional development course we take.

If we were meant to fit into anything, then I am sure the thing us ladies would love to fit into would be that sexy little outfit which still lurkes in the recesses of our minds, which got sent to the charity shop or gifted to a friend way back when.

And for the men amongst us, I am sure you would love for your arse to look great in a nicely belted pair of jeans like Nick Kamen did in the Levi's advert back in the 1980's, or for your 'middle-age spread' (aka beer belly) and 'man boobs' to not spill out of your high grade cotton shirts, which by the way may be intimidating to the women amongst us who are considering a boob job.

(I have wondered recently actually if the excess fat from tummies and backsides would be a better option to transplant into new boobs instead of those ghastly silicon implants, not that I am wanting a boob job or anything, but the mind does wander sometimes when thinking of the toxins we love to put in our bodies).

Which also brings me onto the language we use around our drinking habits.

Now, I don't drink alcohol...

I know shock horror!

A sailor who doesn't drink!!

IS THAT EVEN A THING!?

Yep! It sure is!

So many 'professional business people' love discussing how they are going to be 'polishing off a bottle or two of champagne' to celebrate, or that they are being 'driven to drink'.

And let's consider how many business network socials surround the wine bar and pub culture; excluding those who do not drink.

A good thing to remember here by the way folks, is when we are not including, by default we are excluding, but that's for another article.

In times of the so called 'lockdown' (such a negative fear based word) many 'business professionals' are laughing at the fact they have become 'raging alcoholics' and the first thing they are going to be doing when quarantine is lifted is heading to the pub or wine bar for a drink.

Er... really?

So you see, swearing may offend a lot of people, and many would say it doesn't belong in the world of business, but I personally think the limiting, fear based, self destructive language and vocabulary many 'professional business people' use is a lot more offensive and off putting, than a passionate exclamation, a word of surprise, shock or reaction to pain.

Try stubbing your toe on the corner of a wooden unit or a cleet on board the deck of a ship or yacht and not declaring 'FUCK!' to the world whilst hopping around, falling to your ass and grabbing your injured little pinky toe, whilst tears are falling involuntarily from your eyes, your toe is throbbing and the 'arse hair demon' is working his magic!

(I say 'his magic' because ladies, if you have a hairy arse... well... less said about that the better really!)

Minding our language, being aware of it, and using it are all very different, especially when we bring into the space body language, facial expressions and our energetic language.

People who know me, know I am playful, very tongue in cheek (which is an interesting phrase don't you think?) and I 'call a spade a spade'.

I have done the 'inner work' on myself, I am happy with who I am, and whether or not people approve of me and my vocabulary or not, doesn't really bother me.

Or to use two more wonderful phrases "I don't give a monkies!" and "I don't give a rat's arse!" because I am me.

And I love ALL of me.

I have owned my past, I own who I am and I show up in the world of business in a way that feels right for me.

I am real, and what you see is what you get. My use of language doesn't take away from my high levels of intelligence, business acumen or ability to write a damn good book or have a powerful coaching session with a client.

It brings the right people in my life because they are not judging me, and for those of us who say we believe in a higher source, God, Allah, G-D, Dieu ... we know the only judge is the one we meet on the Day of Judgement.

And at which point I will leave you with this gem of wisdom:

The Day of Judgement is every single day, and the only judge you have is the one looking back at you in the mirror every single day.

If you are judging yourself harshly, avoiding something or a part of yourself, and you are unhappy with yourself, then 9/10 times this is where you will be judging others harshly.

So let's drop the pretentious bullshit, and the 'Delicate Derek and Daisy' routines and start living a life of full self expression and joy!

Have a great day, and remember, when we live to laugh and laugh to live, we release the negative language and get get deep down and dirty with the very best, real version of ourselves.

Toodle pip! ;)