This is an episode from the 1972 video series entitled, The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts. Each episode follows a minimalist format where Watts muses on one particular existential topic.

You might already be aware of Watts’ work, or maybe not, but simply put, he is a supplier of insight, known primarily for interpreting Eastern wisdom for the Western world. For example, here he is talking about the incredible importance of Nothingness; the negative, the void.

Now, this Idea of the Day could focus on summating the lines of thought in the episode above. But that would be rather pointless, because part of the experience of finding your way into Watts’ world, and absorbing his ideas in the way he intends, is through listening to his calm and measured voice.

Instead, for now, shift your focus to the format of this series. How each episode focuses intently on one singular idea. There’s a certain magic in art that does this. For instance, when we see songs, books, or films that have one word titles, it conjures up a different kind of curiosity. We are primed to absorb the idea in a very blunt and direct way, stripped of any fleshed out narrative that might convolute or confuse the issue.

This speaks to the philosophy of minimalism. And it’s a tactic we can use in our everyday lives, outside of art, to refine our thoughts and communicate them clearly. What is it I’m trying to say? How do I truly feel about this thing? Getting things down to one word titles can help us understand their essence.

In this way, we can see words as ideas, and sentences as stories. It’s perfectly fine, sometimes necessary, for the title of whatever we’re working on, or whatever we’re living through, to be a sentence. But as an exercise, it never hurts to stop and test ourselves, to wonder what one word could sum it all up. This is what they mean when they say words have power.