This is an invitation to co-create, (re)imagine and (re)interpret as well as (re)embrace an emergent (or latent) vocabulary for a deeper sense of connection that reflects our current times and the need for socio-economic, cultural, and environmental change. A vocabulary that also reflects the diverse contexts in which WTR is now being practiced.

Every era is defined and, in turn, defines how we name the world around us. To quote McConnell-Ginet, “linguistic and social change go hand in hand because linguistic practices are fundamental to social practices more generally. Words are woven into the social fabric.” All social movements include language reforms. Think for instance the civil rights movement of the 1960s, second-wave feminism and more recent LGBTQ rights; they have all brought their distinctive vocabulary that shifted our ways of thinking. 

Humans are not a mute species. Words matter. How can we then co-create words that describe our reality that is relational, associative, inclusive, and incorporating interconnected aspects of our multidimensional reality into the meaning? As Della Duncan says, “there is no need to reconnect, instead, we need to remember that we have always been connected.” What are these words that remind us we are already connected? Here are some examples: carefrontational vs confrontational, co-agonist vs antagonist, multiversial vs controversial, transability vs disability, sentipensar, symbiocene, biophilia, biocracy, storyworlds, kaitiakitanga (te reo maori for guardianship) and so many more! 
 
You are invited to share with the Deep Times Journal words you have come across, words that have emerged out of your practice or words from your ancestral or/and indigenous traditions that can help us engage and contribute to the Great Turning. These can be in any language. 

Send us your choice of one to three words that reconnect with up to 100 words describing what this word means to you and how you use it or would like to use it in your everyday life but also your professional practices. A selection of 20-30 words will be shared in an article edited by Valia Papoutsaki in the upcoming DTJ March issue. 

The deadline for submissions to this article and the full journal are December 15, no exceptions. Submissions can be sent to: [email protected].