Word of today with a thought behind it

0:00Hey, this is Straw Berry, how y'all doing out there today? I hope everybody is doing well, if you're not doing well, let's find a way to get well, look well, and be well. It is a weekend, and the weather is trying to warm us up. I mean, we have 40 and 50, we get ready to reach 70 next week. So, let's see if we still have to bundle up, but right now, we are going to listen to the word of the day, y'all, and some thoughts that go with it, because we know we all have some thoughts, but they're word of the day that keep us new to fire, and let us know that we've earned something new every single day to put into a sense, into a poem, into a story. But here we are, y'all, let's listen.

1:04It's the word of the day for March 7th. Today's word is Libertine, spelled L-I-B-E-R-T-I-N-E. Libertine is a noun. A Libertine is in broad terms a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality. More narrowly, the word describes someone who leads an immoral life. Here's the word used in a sentence from the ledger of Lakeland, Florida. As horrifying as some of the sins of Victorian scholarship may have been, it would have been anathema to these students of classical philosophy to simply throw out Plato. But that's what some of their modern inheritors have tried to do. It's worth noting that we might not have Plato's work at all where it not carefully studied and preserved by the Islamic scholars hardly Libertines themselves of the medieval period. I only ask to be free, says Mr. Skimpol, in Dickens' Bleak House.

2:07His words would undoubtedly have appealed to the world's first Libertines. The word Libertine comes from the Latin Libertinus, a word used in early writings of Roman antiquity to describe a formerly enslaved person who had been set free. The Roman term for an emancipated person was the Latin word Libertus. Middle English speakers used the word Libertine to refer to a freedman. But by the late 1500s, its meaning was extended to free thinkers, both religious and secular. And it later came to imply that an individual was a little too unrestrained, especially in moral affairs. The likely Latin root of Libertine is Libert, the ultimate source of our word Liberty. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sakalowski. Think some about the big picture of your life right now. What is it that means that you can live the life that you want to live? Who is it that means that you can live the life that you want to live?

3:09And I want you to think about the system in which you live. So the infrastructure around you in which you live. I moved to Manchester in the UK, north of the UK, north of England in the UK, I should say, 20 years ago. And the city has grown from strength to strength in the last 20 years. Manchester has always been one of those places that is vibrant and you want to be when I was a teenager. Me and my now husband used to lie on his bed and listen to the music from Manchester, Oasis and New Order and the Smiths. And we used to think about, oh, it could be in Manchester. Would it be cool to be in Manchester? Because they've got really fun things happening there, like TV stations and theme parks and all these concerts and things going on. And big clubs like the Hacienda was there at that time. And the football was going on. The soccer was amazing, like Man United Man City, which is still the case. And it's a really special city like that. Like geographically, it sits really well. It's small, but there are things that have been done by the people of Manchester, not one person,

4:09but the people of Manchester that mean that Manchester grows and Manchester thrives. You know, the council came together and we've built this venue in the north of the city called Co-op Live. And what it means is that my kids can get on a tram, go and see a concert within half an hour of their house. They can see Harry Styles. They can see Stevie Wonder. They can see massive artists. Then they can walk safely because the paths have been built safely back into town. And they can then get a tram from town home and they are safe. The infrastructure means that I can go, I'd really like to set up this business. And there will be people around me that go, yeah, come on, let's join in. Let's make this business work together. And there's a sense of collaboration and support. And there is a real sense in this city that everybody's a bit plugged in. And the point I'm making is that when you think about your life, like a person and people built your house, they were giving something.

5:10Person and people laid out your road where you live. A person or people have made it so that you can get to work every day. You know, you might be one of those people. And goodness and growth only comes out from the things that we put in. Now, on this, stay with me. The reason I'm talking about this is because the women's, it's International Women's Day this weekend tomorrow. And the theme is give to gain. And like, make me think about it. Make me think about this idea that every single person, if we all gave a little, when we all give a little, everybody else gains and you gain. But it's more than that, because the research shows that one of the best ways that you can maintain and create a positive mindset is to give, is to put in, is to volunteer, is to help someone else. And whether that be a movement for women, as International Women's Day is, or a movement within the community that you're in, or something that you want to change,

6:10or somewhere that you want to be, or something that you really appreciate in your community, where you can plug in, where you can get into the mains, where you can give more than you get out. That's where you gain. Not just for everyone around you, but for you too. And so today, on the eve of International Women's Day tomorrow, where the theme is give to gain, what is it that you're doing this week, that impacts the community, social sets, family, friends, your system that you live within, what can you give so that you can gain? And remember, the size of the give is irrelevant. It's just about putting something in. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of every day, positivity for you, a journal prompt for you to celebrate International Women's Day. In the meantime, have a great day. And remember, you have 100% got this. Got this.