I just learned a new word. This is new not only to me, but to the Merriam-Webster dictionary and probably to many of us. According to Online Word Daily siteIt was coined by a German author named John Koenig, as part of his book “Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsReleased in 2021. Before it was a book it was a Online websites and YouTube channels. Do you know about this? The book contains a collection of words Koenig created to express various emotions, not just grief, but for which he thought no words existed.
The word is ‘sunder’. It means “the perception and appreciation of making other people’s lives as complicated as one’s own.” Wow; As complex, and let’s add as precious, as painful, as full of anxiety and wonder. Just as a realization that we are We have an inner world filled with contradictions, as does everyone else. We all feel and love and dream.
When we are in a traffic jam, when we see and feel these other people in the car next to us, we wonder, Wow, they are just as complicated as I am. They are running to work or the hospital or a lover, feeling anxiety or fear or anticipation, or all three. The term may be inspired by the French ‘sonder’ meaning “to measure the depth.” We measure the depth of those we see and hear; We measure our own depth by acknowledging that of others. How much power we can express with such a word!
According to Wikipedia, except It is the name of a music album by an American pop-band and the name of an American neo-soul group Koenig says that “much of what we feel goes unspoken for lack of a word” to grasp, express, or ripen it.
As I get older, I feel a new appreciation for words. And I guess I feel except To many of my colleagues who, like me, find it more difficult to remember words we once said easily. Maybe it sounds like a stereotype, but it is the reality for many of us. Words that once danced easily out of our mouths are now hidden and we can feel helpless at the loss. We are left with despair – and then silence. Yet, how we respond to silence has the greatest impact on who we are and will become.
Sometimes, conversations with my wife become an opportunity for pantomime and guessing games. I stood up and Mime partially caught the air with my arms in front of me and asked her, “What’s that word? I know it starts with a ‘b’ and it names something that has 2 wheels that we can drive.”
Each of us has our own memories, expressions that reach beyond ordinary meaning. Likewise, each language embodies a different view of its own world, or universe, so each has words that others miss.
For example, according to the philosopher Alan Watts in his book Jane’s WayThere are 4 words that describe and convey a perspective unique to the Japanese language the mood Characteristics of Japanese poetry. Some words have close English approximations but with unique twists. Mood in Japanese, said, Wabi, aware (a-wa-re)And Eugene. said When we calm down and feel detached from our normal worries; We feel a quiet detachment. the poet Lucien Streak said said A recognition of beauty in unevenness, imperfection, and a desire to go beyond a superficial understanding.
Wabi Often associated with sabi. It is a feeling of simplicity, purity and sincerity. Watts said it’s a poignant compliment to what others call ordinary. We glimpse the common in its “incredible variety.” Mood can occur when we feel sad or depressed and we notice the futility of many of our worries. Streak said Wabi Some feelings previously ignored are now seen as valuable.
conscious We are sad over the passing of things, how summer is autumn, youth is old. We have something and then it’s gone. It is not sentimental or nostalgic but an acknowledgment of the reality of change. It’s that moment between sadness and regret.
Eugene The most translatable of moods. U means cloudy, gen means Invulnerability, anonymity. It is a sense of mystery in everything that makes up nature. Japanese Zen teacher and author DT Suzuki Said to be the highest achievement of art and perhaps meditation, when there is no sense of separation between the artistic inspiration and the mind from which it came. For example, when an artist feels that they are both painter and painting.
Sometimes it’s not the lack of a word that pulls us in but their depth. I bet this happens to most of us. We read a sentence and understand the basic literal meaning, but it doesn’t tell us much, or the words seem lifeless or generic. Then we leave, take a walk or sleep. We wake up or grow up and a new world happens. Or we try to wake ourselves up. We tried different explanations. We take a breath. We sit there, quieting our minds. And suddenly, we hear not only words, but also meaning. A new universe emerges from sound.
sound. We love and hate them. But when we don’t find them, we can feel isolated by despair. Or sometimes we get closer to that place before the world dichotomizes between us and them, and we discover what’s around and gives them life. Silence, which often felt like a deficiency, now feels like a gift; Or does it feel like wabi, or Yugen, maybe? And we hear the silence in which now is born.
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