Why Meaningful Words Still Matter

Lately, I’ve noticed something.

More and more people are ending conversations with the phrase, “Appreciate you.”
Or even shorter—just, “’Preciate you.”
Tossed out quick, almost casual, like a nod or a handshake.

Athletes say it after interviews.
Podcasters use it to close out episodes.
Strangers slip it into conversations without thinking twice.

It is everywhere now, a kind of new punctuation.

But I don’t remember hearing it much before a few years ago.
Not in this way, not with this frequency.
Certainly not with this familiarity, as if the phrase itself has become a kind of universal acknowledgment, a soft exhale in a loud world.

So why now? Why this sudden rise in shared appreciation?

Maybe it is not just a trend.
Maybe it is a quiet response to something deeper,
A world where more people than ever feel overlooked, unheard, or unseen.

Maybe it comes from people who have lived in the shadows,
Who have shown up and stayed late,
Who have given their best and rarely been told it mattered.

And so they offer what they once needed.
They give appreciation freely.
Not because it is expected,
But because they know how much it can mean.

There is something beautiful in that,
Something grounding,
Something quietly noble.

But if we are going to say it,
Let us say it with intention.

Let it not be a reflex,
Not just a polite close to a conversation,
But a truth we are choosing to speak aloud.

Let it land in the heart of the person who hears it.
Let it carry weight.

Because appreciation is simple,
But it is not small.

It says,
“I see you.”
“I value what you did.”
“You matter in this moment.”

We speak so often just to fill the air,
But what if we spoke to fill a need instead?

Not to impress,
Not to move on,
But to connect.

Let appreciation be more than a phrase,
Let it be a pause,
A presence,
A choice.

And may we never underestimate the power of a well-timed, well-meaning word.