I believe in clichés. Some may argue clichés are a dime a dozen, however I beg to differ. Clichés are words of wisdom passed on to others. They summarize a situation when we are lost for words. Clichés provide clarity in moments of uncertainty. They are sanity in a moment of insanity. Clichés speak truth to all.
Along the way of life a cliché became commonplace. Something becomes commonplace when it can transcend race, gender, class and religion.
Take for example, “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” Say it again, “Don’t cry over spilled milk”. On some farm, many moons ago what poor little girl spilled the milk she worked so hard to get from her first cow? What strength and courage she found when she said to herself and the world, “I will not cry over this spilled milk and instead go back and try again.”
What great plan did you have for the day, week or month that was snapped away from you by some unforeseen event that got you bent out of shape? At that moment, when your plans got turned topsy turvey, you can say to yourself, “Don’t cry over spilled milk”. Then you get it. The present is now. You can’t undo what has been done, but you have a choice. You can choose to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and face the spilled milk.
A cliché is not something to be mocked or ignored. A cliché is to be analyzed. A cliché is to be thought about, discussed, and applied. A cliché is to get you through those rock and a hard place situations.
Don’t blame the cliché for being a cliché. Clichés have done nothing wrong. Their status is our own fault. People use clichés every day as if they are going out of style. However, that is the point, they are not. They never will. As long as people keep looking for answers to life’s whims, the cliché will live on. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, I believe in clichés.
