Forty times.
That’s how many times John Mayer says “say what you need to say” in the song Say What you Need to Say. (Elise and I counted on our drive home from Mars Hill and Lees-McRae for college visits.)
It’s good to speak your mind.
So good, in fact, that a handful of bloggers, friends, strangers and strange blogger friends I presented this month’s 6 words prompt to declined – because they say what they need to say.
Ernest Hemingway inspired the idea when he said any story can be told in a six-word sentence. I ask bloggers, friends, strangers, and a few strange blogger friends to respond to a prompt.
July is Freedom from Fear of Speaking Month. I want to give people an opportunity to say something to someone – or the universe – that they haven’t yet, for whatever reason.
What would you choose to say, in six words? The topic is up to you.
Here’s what you all had to say.
1. The world doesn’t revolve around you.`
Jamie C., of PinkNoam blog
2. I still miss you every day.
Laura H., of Sprint 2 the Table blog
3. Speak Your Truth: Live Out Loud.
Leslie B., of Time Out for Mom blog
4. Your bigoted comments are NOT okay.
Emily, of Nerd in the Brain blog
5. Sunshine and Starbucks makes me happy.
Sarah, of Thank You Honey blog
6. Life’s short, eat the damn dessert.
Kelly M., of Just Typikel blog
7. It’s your problem. Fix it yourself!
Kathy G., of The Second Half of My Life blog
8. Watch your words, they are forever!
Mel, of According to Mags blog
9. Here and now: Love (or else)!
Ann K., of The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally blog
10. Nurses have job security: thanks, genius.
Kim, of Protean Mom blog
11. Blankety blank, blankety blank, blank blank.
Darcy B.
12. Don’t stop believing in yourself ever!
Janine H., of Confessions of a Mommyaholic blog
13. I choose love and grace over judgment.
Beth C., of Dialysis Gal blog
14. Happiness is not in your wallet.
Yanic, of Family, Faith, Food and Fabric blog
15. Your beautiful sexuality is your own.
August M., of Girl Boner blog
16. A year is too long apart.
Jennifer O., of Mom Babble blog
17. To the universe: I love you.
Jenn S., of Miss LifeStyler blog
18. now you finally understand at last.
beth k., of i didn’t have my glasses on … blog
19. Let’s be kinder to one another.
Kristi M., of Mom’s Own Words blog
20. Today I had a favorite child.
Jen G., of Jen Groeber: Mama Art blog
21. Hey, I’m really boss at this!
Meredith S., of The Mom of the Year blog
22. Put electronic playthings down. Look around.
Erik W., of This Kid Reviews Books blog
23. Express yourself. Stand out. Be different.
Ashley T., of The Confessions of a Working Mum blog
24. Don’t let anyone dim your light.
Shannon A., of Radio Chick’s Reflections blog
25. Stop making stupid people famous now!
Gina V., of The Glorious Life of the Modern Day Soccer Mom blog
26. Be brave: speak, write, sing, dance.
Hayley K., of Books are Delicious! blog
27. I’m a person, not an object.
Ashley M., of Post-Grad Jitters blog
28. I’m sorry I told you first.
Kelly M., of Just Typikel blog
29. I am addicted to Facebook. Help!
Allison C., of The ABC’s of Life blog
30. Re-hire Pluto, it’s a real planet!
Tamara G., of The Three Gerbers blog
31. I am me because of you.
Mo, of Mocadeaux blog
32. Lost my focus. Will begin again.
Deborah W., of Temenos blog
33. Adopting or fostering pets = instant happiness.
Charlotte K., of My Pixie Blog
34. Don’t let fear hold you back.
Cynthia S., of You Signed Up for What?! blog
35. I appear timid, but I’m fierce.
Debbie T., of Heartbeats~Soul Stains blog
36. Our country is finally growing up!
Tiffany, of Sounds Like Life to Me blog
37. Start now, stay aggressive, never quit.
Lisa B., of Black Panty Salvation blog
38. Please. Stop with the selfie sticks.
Gina T., of Full of It blog
39. I know his secret. It’s bad.
Meg D., of Dear Crazy Kids blog
40. Such anticipation for my words? Breathe.
Jan M., of Jan Morrill blog
41. May all your dreams come true!
Rabia L., of The Lieber Family blog
42. I am enough- you’re missing out!
Meghan G., of Southern Belle Secrets blog
43. My marriage hurt, so I left.
Samantha J., of Samantha Jackson: Frugal-Turned-Lifestyle Blog
44. I made mistakes, want a do-over.
Penelope G., of Penelope’s Oasis blog
45. Please world, let me catch up!
Rena M., of Rena McDaniel blog
46. Six words. Life explained. No pressure.
Audrey K., of Writing of Many Kinds blog
47. Don’t ever give up on you.
Erin S., of Sugar Crumbs blog
48. I’m starting to feel less invincible.
Lauren B., of Lauren blog
49. The red octagonal sign means STOP!
Jenn S., of Jenn’s Midlife Crisis blog
50. The time to act is now!
Serins, of Serins Sphere blog
51. Love yourself or nobody else will.
Dana T., of The Kitchen Witch blog
52. Peace on Earth between all wo/mankind.
Susan S., of Garden of Eden blog
53. Please don’t bring your pecan pie.
Tony A., of The Plagued Parent blog
54. Chicken is not a vegan food.
Lisa L, of The Meaning of Me blog
55. Pay attention to the present moment.
Kathy K., of Amen Corner blog
56. I cannot be what I’m not.
Eli P., of Coach Daddy blog
Just a dad ... 
So many good ones here and yet I cannot love more that you both counted in John Mayer’s song. Seriously, thank you so much for including me again! 😉
It had to be done, Janine. Thanks for joining in as always!
Tomorrow might not happen. Live today.
Amen to that. That’s why I have eight ginger snaps instead of four.
I give my gingersnaps to you.
*bows in reverence*
No need to butter me up.
Excellent. I was stuck on this one, like number 11 only not as clever. Some great thoughts on this page.
Thanks Rhonda. No. 11 says it all. And the rest of the pack covers the gamut, right?
I love and adore that you and your daughter counted the times Mayer’s song said those words. Pure awesomeness.
Such great contributions this week! Love them all and thanks for the invite as always!
Glad you thought so! Our estimate was 11,000, so knowing for sure puts us in a better place.
It was quite a crop this time. Thanks for joining in again, Tiffany.
deep thoughts. visited my neighbors here too )
aren’t they? i’m glad you paid your neighbors a visit – you’ll love jenn and kristi.
Wow, these responses are all over the board! I’m anxious to read every one. Thanks, Eli, for giving us the platform to have our say!
That’s what you get with a wide-open topic! Hope you like the collection. I’m glad for everyone who had something to add.
Some really good ones here, and a thought provoking one from you at the end there! Also…. first! OMG!
Thanks!
I take hitting cleanup very seriously, Jamie. How’s it feel to hit leadoff? Seems like there should be some sort of prize for that. Or at least a pizza tax. Oh wait, that would be for me.
Free pizza as a prize would be awesome. How are you for delivering to Holland?
Oh, you’d have to come to the states for it.
Another great invitation Eli. And what great responses. I think the encouragement to say what you need to say is a perfect reminder that we’re always in the position to shine the truth of who we are.
Glad you liked it, Deborah. I could see the range we were hitting all month as sentences came in.
We don’t have to wait for a six-words prompt to say what we need to, do we?
oh I am all in favour of that “Stop making stupid people famous one”!!!
and indeed, let’s all be kinder to one another. I think those could be to great rules of life. 🙂
I wonder if there’s an end in sight for stupid-people fame, though. I guess if I was truly kind, I wouldn’t be apt to point out the stupid people, either!
nope. if you put your stupidity on display AND get rich as a result, the fine print does say I have the right to make fun of you, or, call you out on your dumbass douchery. pretty sure I read that somewhere. Something about being cruel to be kind. 🙂
Gosh, I’m cursed with not enough stupidity to become lucrative, I’m afraid. Nuts. The spotlight is often harsh, whether you made it there with skill or stupidity.
Thanks again for inviting me. Looking forward to some new blog reading today.
Thanks again for playing along, Kathy. If you don’t know Mel and Kelly, you’re sure to love them.
Fantastic and eclectic! Cheers Eli on a job well-done! 🙂
All I did was round ’em up. Glad you liked the haul, Jenn.
…and if I had been allowed a 7th word, it would have been moron! It’s my word for the week (but it doesn’t apply to you…this time!) 😉
A six-word sentence with seven words and ‘moron’ as the seventh would have had some irony to it, wouldn’t it? If ‘moron’ is your word of the week, I can’t wait to see what happens next week.
Love these posts, Eli! Thanks for including me and encouraging us to claim what we want to say!
Thanks Meredith. Thanks to everyone for stepping up and saying it.
I always wanted to count those lines in his song, but I get too annoyed when I’m listening. My husband always yells at the radio when it comes on! There’s a lot of food for thought in this post here! Thanks for including me.
I took my hands off the steering wheel to count them as they happened, while Elise just giggled and backed me up.
Oh, there are 17 worse songs I could think of, for sure. If food was thought, this list would be Golden Corral – just before six tour buses arrive.
Another one knocked out of the park, Eli. #11 really is great. They all are. Just glad I could read this during daylight hours and my eyes aren’t crossing from fatigue. 🙂
It’s a good batch, right Kim? No. 11 is my favorite. There are a lot to choose from, of course. What are you doing reading during the day?
I am so honored. Thanks, Eli.
Thanks for joining in again, Ann.
So many great ones here! Hopefully the universe will deliver the message about the Pecan Pie! lol I visited some other blogs and am now just about to add my post with a link back. Thanks for including me Eli.
Glad you liked them, Kristi! Positive vibes about pecan pie. Thanks so much for checking out other blogs too – I saw on my stat dashboard that clicks on other blogs is WAY up this month, which is awesome. Looking forward to seeing your post!
These are excellent. #4 gets a virtual high five. And #11 was my absolute favorite! Hope to join you next time!
So much truth here. I love this one! Thanks for letting me slide in at the end!
You have some great responses here. I love this whole series!! Sorry I’ve been out of sorts lately… probably won’t be back on solid ground for awhile, but when I am I’ll be begging to come back. 🙂
Saw this at Kristi’s and shared it on Twitter. 🙂 Have a great rest of the week!
Thanks Rosey – it was a good batch, wasn’t it? We all look forward to your return. more so even than Tim Tebow’s.
Thanks for sharing the lot on Twitter. Great of Kristi to post that, wasn’t it?
Thank you so much for including me again! I love the one: “please don’t bring your pecan pie.” LOL!
Glad you were in it, Laura! I think we all want to know the pecan pie story. Kind of makes me want a slice now, even though it’s not exactly an endorsement!
Splendid, splendid sentences here. I think I feel a blog post coming on… Thanks once again, Eli for these refreshingly positive six word opportunities.
Decent little roundup here, isn’t it Kelly? Can’t wait to read your post.
Such a decent little roundup here, Eli. FYI – that post is written. And I may just have mentioned you …
I’d better check this out!
There are many that make me think “what made that person say that?”
I’m especially wondering what is wrong about that Pecan Pie (Tony)
Thanks for letting me play! I was not surprised you chose Pluto, he’s kind of the underdog in our solar system, right?Unrightfully so.
I wish there was a backstory to them all – but there are to a couple. Check out the link on the sentence Laura sent from Sprint 2 the Table blog.
Tony really needs to blog the pie, doesn’t he? I’m glad you were in it. Pluto is definitely my all-time favorite underdog of the galactic conference.
These are good. I think my answer would depend on my mood – Sometimes it would be “What is wrong with you people?!?!” and sometimes it would be “Please stop growing up so fast!”
Thanks Lisa. There are definitely different answers, maybe even in different minutes. Your first one could be the default, and could apply to just about anyone on earth.
Thanks for a fun post, Eli! I took the prompt literally, as a fear of public speaking. If I could say anything I wanted to say in six words, without fear, I’d say to the world, “Quit getting so easily offended.” 🙂
Glad you liked it, Jan. The prompt was definitely up for interpretation, and often, I think people see it differently.
I do love your redo, though. My thoughts exactly!
Oh this is a great collection of things to say without fear. What a wonderful topic! I’d say “Mind your own business, don’t judge.”
Glad you like it, Julie. We all need a sounding board once in a while. I like your six words!
Hi Eli, I know it’s Friday and not Wednesday. I’m sorry, but good news I killed the ditzy crazy lady and the regularly scheduled normal, organized one has returned. Looking forward to doing this again. All is marked down haha!
It’s never too late, Rena. Thanks for joining the fray this time!
Thank you for including me, Eli. This is such a great 6 Words! Excellent prompt. I think it’s my favorite collection yet. It’s so fun that the answers are all over the board. Looking forward to your next one!
Thanks for adding to the list, Gina. Such an opening calling was sure to bring in a little of everything. Glad you liked it!
The next prompt is ready to roll – I’ll send you an email soon.
Oh, my word, what great quotes! I think I love your six words the best, Eli. Mine were going to be something like this: Cancer awareness: Save women, not boobs. I hope not to miss out next month! 😉
Glad you liked them, Ginny Marie! And thank you, on mine. Yours is awesome too. Email me and I’ll give you the August prompt.
So much said in so few words, leaving much to consider. Thanks Eli!
Glad you liked it, Beth. These were all over the place.
Thank you so much for the invite Eli… sorry I’m so late catching up. Great words. Wondeful initiative.
Glad you liked it Yanic. No need to apologize – July past so fast for everyone.
“I’m still thinking; that’s not bad.”
Great challenge. Like a fine French sauce, words boiled down to the essence. Yeah, Eli Coach Daddy!
Nice one Marian. Glad you enjoyed the challenge. It’s word reduction, isn’t it?