When you think of how we greet one another, certain coined phrases and words come to mind. How are you? And the ever familiar and ever acceptable response of “good” or “fine.”

Good morning, good afternoon, good night, these are common as well. One of my teachers in class today pointed out that these sayings are more than just words. It’s a blessing, in her eyes. She’s not commanding anyone to have a good day, rather, she is wishing them a good whatever part of the day it may be.

However, when it comes to parting ways, how many of us use the term “goodbye?” I think we have all said it at one point in our lives, if not a couple times per day. It’s so easy, so common.

But I have a friend who won’t say it. Because in their mind, saying goodbye is more formal, more definite. They would much rather say “see you later” because that almost guarantees that we will see each other again…and soon.

I find this idea very charming and I think they are right. It makes me think of the quote from Peter Pan:

“Never say goodbye because saying goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting.”

But how do we break ourselves from these habits? How do we stop using the industrialized, mass produced, acceptable, and traditional ways of greeting and parting one another?

Perhaps we should do some research and look up some better words in which we can describe ourselves, our mornings, our afternoons, our days, our moods, etc. Maybe we should open a book and start making a list of some adjectives or phrases which might be more suitable.

In retrospect, I’ve said goodbye more times than I can count. I probably said it at least ten times today, if not more. But the point I’m trying to make here is that we should be more aware of the words that are coming out of our mouths—about the meanings, specifically the connotation and denotation of the words. What we say matters and has an impact.

Let’s try and use words more conducive to our feelings. While “see you later” may not connotate feelings of love and warmth, it does have an entirely different feeling than that of “goodbye.”

As Winnie the Pooh so cleverly stated, “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

But it’s not goodbye. It’s see you later.

Until then, folks.