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How/Why did you come up with this language?
In 2002 I went through some very bad times. Days where I could see no light and seriously wondered if I ever would. During those dark times I started to doodle these random shapes on a piece of paper (original image to left and right). For some strange reason I took comfort from the shapes and the process of drawing them. Call it escapism. Call it art therapy. Call it whatever you want. The more I drew those shapes the more I started to think that it looked like a language. Without telling anyone I started to develop it.
While those months of darkness progressed I could not find English words to express how I was feeling. Since I was making up my own words in the language anyway I made up new words that contained new meanings. How do you describe the feeling of doing okay, compared to yesterday, but also feeling like you are going insane? There is no single English word to describe that so I made up a character for it in the language.
As I slowly put my life back together the language continued to grow. I still made up words to express how I was feeling but I also started to center the language around family and friends. My sister is a very wise person. So I designed a character for her name and then made the character for wisdom look a lot like my sisters name. My brother-in-law is a great dad (so is my own dad) to my nephews. The character for dad looks a lot like the character for my brother-in-laws name. The language now carries a double meaning for me. Not to sound too cheesy, but it reminds me of the deep healing that has gone on inside me and also of the people that mean the most to me.
Up until this year (2010) very few people have known about this language. The only reason I include the story here is that someone else may be feeling like they are not going to make it and this language might somehow bring them hope and healing. I honestly did not know if I was going to make it out of those dark times. Some very close friends and family helped me navigate all of that confusion and also a language that I am now calling Water Tongue.
Cheers ~ Rick