Tag openness

Words Less Used?

Anne Leave a comment

Sometimes when you see or hear a word or expression you wonder, why don’t we use that one more often? Do we remember the meaning? Words like “thwarted”, which isn’t a wart with a lisp , but rather means to be prevented or blocked from doing something. It is nice to find words that describe exactly what is being experienced. Remember when we were learning the meaning of words as a child? It felt like a struggle to enlarge one’s vocabulary, wondering why we needed more words to mean a similar thing, like sad. Maybe nowadays we use the word depressed too much instead of alternates, like sad or could say melancholy and better describe our pensive reflection? Would we get another’s good attention if we said we felt melancholy?

How about being “hoodwinked,” as in tricked or deceived ? That feels kind of lighter sounding and allows one to laugh at oneself to say they were hoodwinked. “Downtrodden”describes a person who is beaten down by life and their circumstances, maybe even grey in appearance. In the dictionary it has a strong meaning of being abused or oppressed by people of power. Do we tend to now use the definition of words used in the past more than the words they originally defined? Hmmmmm

To be “cheeky” is more a British term, like to be fresh or outspoken. It is fun to incorporate new words to describe our feelings or a situation as it gets people’s attention if they haven’t heard it before. Gobsmacked was used by an American actress in a TV interview and the interviewer and most of the audience didn’t know the word. Perhaps they were gobsmacked. “Gobsmacked “: to be utterly astounded; flabbergasted.

Being “vexed” over something, to be perturbed or worried; or how about using “surly:” gruff, sullenly ill-humored ? That could fit many of our current life experiences or feelings. Maybe we can reintroduce some less used words and phrases into our day to day and gobsmack some friends?

Grow Belonging

Anne 4 Comments

Grow belonging. A rare word combination, yet its’ meaning seems clear. The idea that humans seek to belong, and the feeling of not belonging is referenced often in the ways we might feel separate or on the outside of something. Yet what if we each had the ability to “grow belonging”, to nurture and tend to those belonging seeds for ourselves? Then as time moved along our sense of belonging would grow, and it would be ours, inside of us.

In some cultures and communities people are asked “Who do you belong to?” meaning who are your people, ancestors or relatives. Many of us may not feel we belong to anyone or any group even if we can answer that question. Maybe someone’s belonging is situational, meaning as long as you have that job, or live in that neighborhood, or are married to that person, you belong to that group and have an “identity”.

But external connections can shift and change. In those cases, then who do we belong to, or where? Belonging to oneself seems a new possibility to consider. Especially having the ability to “grow” it.

Grow belonging. Maybe when we find ourselves in new circumstances, like a new community or experience, we can also find ways to share our authentic self as we grow belonging. No matter our age we may need to grow belonging in new and different ways as our life takes new turns or changes. Ideally we know how to grow those belonging seeds, as well as keep them healthy.