“I promise you.” A simple three word performative statement.

As I start to experience
more in my life, I’m learning that few words can make an impact bigger than a novel ever could.
However, these performative statements seldom occur. These words of Angela Mitchell best
describe the reason for that, in this world, “we seem to trust words less and less” (64). Many “I
marry yous” turn into divorces, “Yes’s” turn into “No’s” and the “I hire yous” turn into “We
have to let you go.” The mistrust created when these transformations of phrases happen urge all
of us to be cautious when and why we give performative statements. However, that just makes
for an even grander impact when they are used.
Not long ago, after high school graduation, my boyfriend gifted me a beautiful necklace.
I was ecstatic as I had never received anything like this before. Our relationship started out as a
long distance one so I knew that as the summer months came and went, I would be moving even
farther away from someone I love, to start college. One night, he was next to me on the couch at
my house, watching an action movie I wasn’t paying attention to. Mostly because I was
becoming increasingly anxious. He sensed that in me and looked at me and said “I promise you.
Everything will be okay.” Such a simple statement yet again but it held so much power. As a
consequence of that “performance” I immediately felt more at ease and it caused me to take a
deep breath and be present in the moment. That might not seem like a big reaction but the
“words enact[ed] change” (64) and solidified my already overflowing trust in this person and we
are still together after a year. Since then, the necklace has become a reminder of that moment and
everytime I look at it, I remember the words, “I promise you.”