Lachesism: Longing for the Clarity of Disaster Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-09-23 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). ETYMOLOGYGreek, from LACHESIS, "the disposer of lots." Lachesis is the name of the second of the three fates in Ancient Greek mythology. Clothed in white, Lachesis is the measurer of the thread woven by Clotho's spindle, the apportioner who decided how much time for life was to be allowed for each person or being. She measured the thread of life with her rod.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"Unreal World" by CitokidTRANSCRIPTFor a million years,we’ve watched the skyand huddled in fear.But somehow you still find yourselfquietly rooting for the storm.As if a part of you is tired of waitingwondering when the world will fall apartby lot, by fate, by the will of the godsalmost daring them to grant your wish.But really, you can wish all you want,because life is a game of chance.And each passing day is another flip of the coin. Lachesism.You can’t help but take this life for granted.Your eyes adjust to the color of the wallsand your ears tune out the chatterAs if your body’s trying to filter outthe world as you know it.And while your brain goes numbtrying to shake off your complacency,your heart can’t sit still,and your gut is hungry for chaos—itching to chase after stormsand run headlong into the fire.to watch society break down.and find out what’s truly important and watch everything else fall away.The apocalypse is one of the oldest fantasies we have,but it’s not about skipping to the end of the story.it's a longing for revelation,a revealing of what we already know, but cannot see:that none of this is guaranteed.and there’s no such thing as “ordinary life.”that our civilization is just an agreementthat could be revoked at any time.and beneath our rules and quarrelswe’re stuck together on a wide open planet,where anything can happenleaving us no choice but to survive, to build a shelter, and find each other in the storm.that even just getting through the dayshould feel like the miracle it is,a cascading series of accidentsthat just happened to fall your way.But soon the storm will pass, and the world will go on spinning,and we’ll pick up our lives just where we left them,no more urgently than before.After all,it’s just life. It’s not the end of the world.CREDITSVimeo.com Creative Commons Attribution LicenseThunderstorm 1080 by Lumix Club MexicoDance To Repair by Interpolis FilmsCalm before the storm by Joe Cavallinimake think by Eliezer DefariaHeavy by Daniel Ignacioeasterly winds by Dan Gusano GonzalezSTORM ON THE HORIZON by British Columbia adventure guideHurricane Sandy by Mickey KicklosREMEMBER GABON [GH4 - Metabones Speedbooster]by David MboussouSilent Pain by Joshua Martin StudiosFind Me by Doug JacksonEnd by Stuart MurrayNEPAL - CINEMATOGRAPHY SHOWREEL 2015 by Yuqi KangMÆRE - 'Amen' Teaser by Filament FeaturesNelson New Zealand 17 April 2014 Collingwood Street tree falls by Derek SiversSt. Lucia - All Eyes On You by Matt Wilford HederResonance by Jeremy RatzlaffFinal Draft by John Lawrence by John LawrenceNever Sleep by Colby Moore+ (a short film)by Chris FennerTOMORROW (directors cut) by Adrian MartiniStorm Time Lapse May 2015 - www.mh-di.com by Mike HaytackLate for the Party by Trevor CorriganTyphoon Soulik by Davy MartinAtamga - The Warriors Dance by Calum JumpJe suis l'espoir by Paul CordonnierAfter Tracy by Nathaniel KellyDon't Let The Day Get Away- Inspirit by Hello Sunday MorningWALDEAN by Jacob Rosenfarewell ... londonby Smea ÉireannCYCLONE FASHION FILMby Adam McDaidIndahnya Bali by MaartenFilms2012 December 21st by Tinkering With Time
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2021-11-16 | THE BOOK IS HERE from Simon & Schuster: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Amazon amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1501153641?tag=simonsayscomor get the AUDIOBOOK, read by the author: bit.ly/3tTix4NBarnes & Noble barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dictionary-of-obscure-sorrows-john-koenig/1138726087;jsessionid=47C1D83572900DFA5C2742824B025B88.prodny_store02-atgap17?ean=9781501153648&st=AFF&2sid=Simon%20&%20Schuster_7567305_NA&sourceId=AFFSimon%20&%20Schuster--Special note to my subscribers: Thank you all for your patience. In the last couple years I had already been hard at work writing the book, but then life happened: I moved abroad, my daughter Charlotte was born, and I had to have unexpected heart surgery right when Covid was at its worst. I made it through, thankfully, back to full power. And now I feel extraordinarily grateful that the book is finally here, that I lived long enough to see it happen, and that you all have stuck with me. I have no words for any of that. But I'm excited to get a chance to make more videos again. I love it.--“BRILLIANT”—New York Magazine"Creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have."—John Green, New York Times bestselling author of "The Fault in Our Stars"“Koenig connects the seemingly unconnectable feelings we as humans experience on a daily basis and puts words to them. Koenig brilliantly finds a way to show, in his new words and their definitions, how we connect to ourselves and one another through feelings and emotions.” —BoDean Warnock, Booklist"A beautiful little book…Whatever the half-baked, unfinished, yet-to-be-articulated emotion tumbling around in your brain, this book will find a way to name it. Koenig has a cunning ability to parse out emotions in a very specific way and pin them down into actual articulation, both in the word he creates itself and its poetic definition and etymology. There is joy to be found in every nook and cranny of this book.”—Michigan Daily Review
Pâro: The Feeling That Everything You Do Is Somehow Wrong Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2018-05-09 | The BOOK is now available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author), with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH“Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it.” –André GideWritten, edited, and coined by John Koenig. ⌄⌄ Etymology, Transcript & Credits Below ⌄⌄Email me: obscuresorrows [at] gmailFacebook facebook.com/dictionaryofobscuresorrowsTwitter twitter.com/obscuresorrows📖 ETYMOLOGY: From 'par 0' (par zero), a theoretical hole on a golf course, which would mean it’s already too late—that no matter how well you hit the ball, you’ve already fallen behind. Compare the Spanish 'paro,' a stoppage or freezing up. The circumflex over the â is a tiny symbol of someone trying for something then retreating.♬ MUSICEpidemic Sound: http://www.epidemicsound.com"Dismantle" by Peter Sandberg | "So Mellow" by Jon BjörkAUTHOR'S NOTE:Over the last century, most dictionaries have quietly shifted their mission from prescription to description, which means they try to tell you not just what people *should* do, but what people *actually* do. I think this is a wonderful thing. Here's hoping the rest of the media will give it a try someday.The occasional glimpse of Huffington Post's old design should give you an idea of how long I've been noodling around with this episode. Also, if you look closely at the cover, the HuffPost article on the right is "Why You Should NOT Publish A Book."Try varying the playback speed. You'll notice very different things.
Silience: The Brilliant Artistry Hidden All Around You Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2018-04-03 | The BOOK is now available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author), with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvHWritten, edited, coined and narrated by John Koenig. ⌄⌄ Etymology, Transcript & Credits Below ⌄⌄http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comEmail me: obscuresorrows [at] gmailFacebook facebook.com/dictionaryofobscuresorrowsTwitter twitter.com/obscuresorrows📖 ETYMOLOGY From silent + brilliance.♬ MUSICEpidemic Sound: "Engulfed in a Chasm 2" by Peter Sandberg | "Colored Spirals 2" by Johannes Bornlöf❝ TRANSCRIPTIt's fun to think of your favorite artists, back when they were just starting out. Playing the sidewalk in total anonymity.It makes you wonder, if they were right there in front of you, would you have noticed?Strange that something so vibrant as art is so nearly invisible. Strange how rarely we stop to savor the details, or hear the music playing in the background that’s far better than it has any right to be.It’s only after someone points it out, that you finally catch the tune. It makes you wonder if there's brilliance all around you, hiding in plain sight, just waiting around to see if you’ll notice.Who knows how many Kafkas and Van Goghs you might be walking past? Maybe the next J.K. Rowling is living just down the street,maybe she doesn’t even suspect it, any more than we do.We assume that if a piece is any good, surely it'll find an audience.But maybe it’s mostly luck. Luck that they’re not already famous.or luck that the right person just happened to look up. One never knows how two people find each other, if they ever meet at all.Imagine how much courage it takes, to show up and keep playing anyway, hoping it’ll resonate with someone passing by, though it won’t happen for everybody. To keep pouring your heart into something, even if it falls on deaf ears. Reaching out in the face of indifference, trying to give people permission to care.Indifference is easy. It takes a lot of courage to fight back against it.So maybe we should stop and count ourselves lucky that there's still someone out there fighting the good fight.💬 VIDEO CREDITSYOUTUBE CREATIVE COMMONS 2.0 ATTRIBUTION LICENSEMATHIAS - Piano Busker by HUMAN POSTCARDSyoutube.com/watch?v=THjWD8bk7c4NYC Busker Mashup 2014 by Cathy Grieryoutube.com/watch?v=leEQwJiFoPMvVIMEO CREATIVE COMMONS 2.0 ATTRIBUTION LICENSENY in 5 acts by Walter Shintanivimeo.com/45854869PLAYGROUND DETROIT presents Ouizi Pop-Up Solo Exhibition by PLAYGROUND DETROITvimeo.com/174850158We Took the Streets by Geschikte Gastenvimeo.com/55735570A Song in the Street by Nihal Anandvimeo.com/53622175Street Beats - Busking on the streets of Perth by Lee de Bylvimeo.com/66951286Museum Mile Festival 2016 by Viewing NYCvimeo.com/170822945The Tap Dancer by //PLANET MIND//vimeo.com/194969182Buskers in Glasgow by Frederik Subeivimeo.com/38905730David Zinn Art by Create Michiganvimeo.com/105495329buskers krakow 54 by Cecilia Bryvimeo.com/89080551Mary Arte - Paint & Dance by Antoine Meyervimeo.com/61903132Magical Prague by Daniel Chenvimeo.com/91835324Alumni Documentary Nilaja Sun Gordon 96 by Franklin & Marshall Collegevimeo.com/181628844Kami by Dreamtigerfilmsvimeo.com/47777882Giving it 110% student hip-hop artists by reesenewsvimeo.com/20010243Artists Online by Hannah Sallavimeo.com/55584318Busking with class by The Edinburgh Reporter on Vimeovimeo.com/123854993The Figure Skater by Mollie Millsvimeo.com/85449335Canis Majoris - Street Art - Olhobranco ∆ by olhobranovimeo.com/82096193NOOK First Cut by Chang Liuvimeo.com/46774039teresa jenee [rehersal] by traviscrosbydotcomvimeo.com/22761673Johnny Cool - A Short Documentary by Tom Levesquevimeo.com/109627521White Night Auckland Arts Festival 2015 by Penn Productionsvimeo.com/124477973Downtown Los Angeles ‘IAMDTLA’ by Ted Simvimeo.com/119023865The Music by Oleg Jvimeo.com/19382346Arcore Street Festival 2012 by Stefano Armaninivimeo.com/44277578Amateur Night by Christine Ferreravimeo.com/3381968010cm - 아메리카노 by RECANDPLAYdotnetvimeo.com/8468358Buskers Bern 2013 The little Drummer by Christian Gerbervimeo.com/162216038Artistic Underpass Voices [A Busking Documentary] by Four Frames Filmsvimeo.com/125885287COMEDIENNES by Mark & Amandavimeo.com/45973070The Violinist by Federica De Cariavimeo.com/153655821The Shadow Factory by WERK (TEASER) by Mathew Beckettvimeo.com/190182231Hop-Hop Promotional Video from Simone Romanò (Ibla Buskers 2010) by Sibone Romano'vimeo.com/55519906Litter Stops Here by Samuel Marxvimeo.com/119455703
Morii: The Desire to Capture a Fleeting Experience Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2017-03-28 | The BOOK is now on sale, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). “With every click of the shutter, you're trying to press pause on your life." | Music by Exist Strategy existstrategy.bandcamp.com ⌄⌄ Etymology & Transcript ⌄⌄http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comEmail the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/dictionaryofobscuresorrowsTwitter twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom 'memento mori,' a small reminder of your mortality + ‘torii,’ the traditional Japanese gates that mark the threshold between the profane and the sacred. If you think of every moment as another step on the long path to forgetting everything, a snapshot is a gate on that journey, a vibrant acknowledgement that something has changed. I remember walking through the long winding tunnels of torii gates in Kyoto—a surreal and oddly touching experience, which I found almost impossible to convey in a photograph.WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?“Exit Strategy” by Exist Strategy (feat. Air Shaper)“Balcony" by Exist StrategyTRANSCRIPT:Strange how strong the instinct is,to see something incredible,and reach for a camera.As if to lend it some credibility,to prove that it's real,that 'I WAS HERE.'Morii.We live our lives in moments.Those rare experiences we stop to notice, and carry with us,in the hopes of stringing them together, trying to tell a story.But even in the moment, you can feel it start to fade.So you try to capture it, and convert it into something that will last longer than just a flash.And over time a photo feels more real than it's subject. It lets you build a version of the worldthat you can take with you.A world flattened, and simpleA world that doesn't changeThat fits in the frame.A little brighter and more colorful.With everything under control.You can travel the globe looking for memories, and still find yourself standing behind a camerawaiting for the world to hold still.With every click of the shutter,you're trying to press Pause on your life.If only so you can feel a little more comfortable moving onliving in a world stuck on Play.A part of you knows you can't take it with youbut that doesn't stop you from trying."What if I could stay just a little longer?""What if we didn't have to go?"We try to capture moments as if we're afraid they'll escape,but they'll get away eventually.Take one last look. One more shot.So years from now you can flip back through,and try to relive it all over again.But maybe even then, you'll be thinking to yourself,"Ah well. I guess you had to be there."
Moment of Tangency: A Glimpse of What Might Have Been Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2017-01-18 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). ⌄⌄ Etymology, Credits & Transcript ⌄⌄http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comEmail the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/dictionaryofobscuresorrowsTwitter twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYA tangent is where a line 'just touches' a curve, sharing the same angle for a bit before carrying off to infinity.WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"Dandelion Snow" by Ian Paul Livingstone"Still Water Reflection" by Simon Charles PorterTRANSCRIPTYou and I have never met, many times before.Our paths might have crossed once or twice online,or passing in the street,We might've lived in the same neighborhood all our lives, but against incredible odds, we just happened to miss each other.It's a big world, after all.Our days must be filled with these chance encounters, that for a million tiny reasons, never actually take place. Accidental strangers, who just happened to miss their cue.who share everything in common, except for time and place. For years, their stories might've been happening in parallel,harmonizing from somewhere across the world,but neither has any idea that the other even exists.If two lines are truly parallel,it means they'll never actually meet.It's hard not to wonder where they are right now,veering away on a tangent, in some parallel universe,Hard not to glance at a stranger in a crowd,and imagine the life you might have shared, if things had been different,and feel a pang of missed connection as you carry on your separate ways, leaving nothing but an echo of something that might have been.You never know how many things had to happen exactly right for you to meet the one you love,You never know how easily fate might have tipped you onto some other course, meeting some other person, who would feel like a soulmate.Maybe you'd still be telling your friends it was always meant to be, As if you knew all along that your paths would cross.Or maybe you'd look back at your life and realize: it was nothing personal-it's all just a coincidence.You never know.CREDITS:All content licensed CC BY 2.0?creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0from Vimeo.comRelief by Daniel Hillel-Tuch Sutton through the bolex by FredBLDurrett Family 8mm Films Joans Birthday Dan Prom Backyard 1961 by Jake DurrettHand Made by Matthew Psyllosbig mama's hand-processing 16mm color reversal workshop by Craig Scheihingmeshes of two mornings by Craig ScheihingMONSTERS by ERIN KENNEDY 2013 - MONO NO AWARE WORKSHOPA WALK IN NEW YORK by OSAMA JIBAT 2013 - MONO NO AWARE WORKSHOPNew York Super 8 by Ryd CookEMPIREBRIDGE by DREW BUCILLA, Mono No AwareDispose After Use by FredBLBolex Film by Casey WoodBETWEEN THE EYES by RENATA CRUZ 2015, Mono No AwareLOOK by Leila Francolm, Mono No AwareMISSED CONNECTION by JAMIE SIEGEL 2013 - MONO NO AWARE WORKSHOPThe Doppleganger by Conor RandallThe Silent Affair by Chris SukovichOliver Jenkins - Strange by Richard JenkinsIndiana Narrative Short Film by Erin McGoffDinner by Kelly TeacherYO NO by DAVID SAVAGE 2014, Mono No Aware8mm Film 1960's France by Sintome FlicksChildhoods Enfances, part 7 by Pascaline PiotDesvío by Marto AlvarezAunt Martha - Wherever You Wanna Go [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] by Victoria RiveraLa Mer Jeux de Vagues by Jonathan BowerMEMO by KRITTIN PATKULDILOK 2014Nothing Else to Say by MorganEstbergHAND-PROCESSED SUPER-8MM by THAIS DUARTE 2013 -MONO NO AWARE•a •b GH4 SLR Magic Anamorphot Test (1.33x) by Nikko OcampoYT NYCT Subway (IND) The Holiday Shoppers Nostalgia Arnine (R1-R4-R6-R7A-R9) M Train by SHADoW-KoiSHiTRAIN OVER BRIDGE by NINA BOWERS 2012 - MONO NO AWARE WORKSHOPBARCELONA VIDEO by RR Produccion AudiovisualP A R K E R + E R I N by Eric HiresTHE NEW 484S by FRANCESCO MARCHIONE 2015 by Mono No AwareDIE RAUCHENDE RATTE by DAVID SAVAGE 2013 - MONO NO AWARE WORKSHOPSPRING IN ANDALUSIAby RICHIE ABRAHAM 2014FAMILY PORTRAIT by JA'TOVIA GARY 2014Herr Jurinov & Klara by Ersin CilesizThe City by Tom Beswick, BA & MA FimmakingWHATS LIGHT AND ROUND AND COVERED IN SHT by JENNY VOLODARSKY 2012 MONO NO AWARE FILMMAKING WORKSHOPLOST WORLDS #1 by romain_vaucBUBBLES by KATIE HINSHAWJAMAIS ARRIERE by KIKI LAMBDEN 2013 - MONO NO AWARE WORKSHOPALIEN by ANNA TAKAYAMA 2014, Mono No AwareLack There Of by Nick OlsenSave The Date - Melanie & George by Ken WerbataTECTONIC TONIA by BRIGHID GREENE 2015THE ECLIPSE by BRENDAN McMAHON, 2013, Mono No AwareSuper 8 Wedding Film by Kevin TimminsSuper 8 rough cut - Sinister Kid Black Keys by Matthew KeyserUNTITLED by DALIA ALI, Mono No AwareSuper 8 Footage by Lanor Prods
Kudoclasm: When Lifelong Dreams Are Brought Down to Earth Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-10-27 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). ETYMOLOGYGreek kudos, "glory, praise" + clasm, "breaking down."THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"A Pure Spirit" by Simon Arthur Rhodes"Strangeness and Charm" by Nick Bardoni & Stephen Dominic Warr"Humming Birds" by Simon Arthur RhodesTRANSCRIPTYou were born with your head in the clouds, your future wide open,feeling almost weightless. Almost.Kudoclasm.You had dreams even before you had memories: a cloud of fantasies and ambitionsof secret plans and hidden potential,visions of who you are, and what your life will be.They keep your spirits high, floating somewhere above your life,where the world looks faintly hypothetical, almost translucent. But every time you reach for the skyand come away with nothing, you start to wonder what’s holding them up.“Surely it would have happened by now?!”You feel time starting to slip, pulling you back down to earth.even as you tell yourself, don’t look down.You don’t have the luxury of floating through life,because you may not have the time. The future is already rushing toward you, and it’s not as far away as you think. It feels like your life is flashing before your eyes, but it’s actually just the opposite: you’re thinking forward, to everything you still haven’t done,the places you had intended to visit,the life goals you’d eventually get around to,some day in the future.You start dropping your delusions one by one,like tossing ballast overboard.And soon the fog lifts, and everything becomes clear— right until the moment your feet touch the ground. And there it is, “the real world.”As if you’ve finally grown up, steeped in reality, your eyes adjusting to the darkness, seeing the world for what it is.But in truth, you don’t belong there.We dream to survive—no more optional than breathing. Maybe “the real world” is just another fantasy,something heavy to push back against,and launch ourselves still higher.We’re all afraid to let go,of falling into a bottomless future.But maybe we belong in the air,tumbling in the wind.Maybe it’s only when you dive in that you pick up enough speedto shape the flow of reality, and choose your own course,flying not too high, and not too low, but gliding from one to the other in long playful loops. To dream big, and bounce ideas against the worldand rise again.Moving so fast,you can’t tell where the dream ends and where the world begins.CREDITSVimeo.com Creative Commons Attribution LicenseSlaves to freedom by Olivier BaillonDancing fog by Christophe TauzietCloud Skimming by Kenneth CrawfordSome Cloud Action at Faget (Part 1) by Bans Volkan SaraAbove the mist by Sander van Schie De VerfilmerFlock & Dock 8.0 - the Whole Big Long Video of the Whole Event by Skwrl ProductionseYecam test by eYecam testClouds # 02 Barcelona by Everyman ProductionLondon - Breathe by V-EmotionPieces by Pete IvaneckyUltimate Vietnam Adventure by Claude lee SadikDay is Done by Chained MonsterLove Story Engagement Paola & Kelvin by Alexavier LopezCrescent by Andrew CurtisNaked Kids by Steven AlanGraduation Day by Jamin Tasker2012 December 21st by Tinkering With TimeSaison 2013 - Skydiving by Armand NicolasCovadonga Freefly by Aviora FreeflyAngleweek 2013 by Dave RheaOne Big Circle by Steven AlanNaked Kids by Steven AlanA Strange Sort of Mysticism by Michael MastersonGesir by ConorCark Week 2013 by Aviora FreeflyNavidad en Trevelin by AeroTechno FPV-Argentina.com Brento 3-way by Brian SDFlembaz - Empire (Forged by VuAir and Quick Feet) by Flembaz2-way wingsuit jump off Exit 4 at Kjerag by Brian SDZug - A aerial view on the medieval part of the beautiful Swiss town by Riot Media[airfilm] demoreel by TophelicamVaux's Swifts _ Chapman Elementary 2011 by PushkillDirty Inputs - Solid Star by Dirty InputsThe Murmurs of Jamnagar by Vijay Shah
Lutalica: The Part of Your Identity That Doesnt Fit Into Categories Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-09-14 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. ↓ ETYMOLOGY, TRANSCRIPT & CREDITS ↓Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Di...Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"Perception" by Richard Allen Harvey. Sharp-eared viewers will notice I used an excerpt of this song in the series trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEDWH...ETYMOLOGYFrom Serbo-Croatian lútalica, "wanderer."TRANSCRIPTLutalica.You tell the world who you arein a million different ways.Some are subtle, some are not.But it doesn't seem to matter:this world has already got you pegged.When you were born they put you in a little box,and slapped a label on it.So they could keep things organized,and not have to think about what’s inside.Over time you learn to make yourself comfortablepackaging your identity in different combinationsuntil you feel like you belong,and can wear your labels proudly.But there’s a part of you that never really found a homerattling around in categories that couldn’t do you justice.You look around at other people,trying to judge how loosely they fit in their own livessensing a knot of confusion hidden beneath a name tag.And you realize we’re still only strangers,who assume we already know what the other is going to say,as if the only thing left to talk about iswho belongs in what categoryand which labels are offensive.You have to wonder if these boxes are falling apart.If we should be writing our identities by hand,speaking only for ourselves, in our own words,taking our chances out in the openand meet each other as we are,asking: “What is it like being you?”—and be brave enough to admitthat we don’t already know the answer.Maybe it’ll mean that we’ve finally arrived, just “unpacking the boxes”making ourselves at home.And maybe we’ll look back and wonderhow we managed to live in the same house for so long,and never stop to introduce ourselves.VIDEO CREDITSALL UNDER VIMEO.COM CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION LICENSERally for homeless LGBT youthby Washington Square NewsPortrait Of A NYC Artist_ Serene Bacigalupiby Marco Bjorn OttThe Ballerinaby Mollie Mills백현진 정재일 - 봄의 풍경Baekhyeonjin jeongjaeil - landscape of springby RECANDPLAY.NETThe Road Out of Homelessness Nazma of Kolkataby Girl RisingTORONTO ZOMBIE WALK 2014 MONTAGE - GH4-HDby Kevin Shakvimeo.com/110105838An Experimental Filmby CHARCOLEvimeo.com/64578562Caminar y otras cosasby Selman and Platt PortfolioTime for the Soulby Jasper Enujubavimeo.com/112910338STICK short filmby IVNvimeo.com/106576912The Invisible Homelessby Mahala GaylordUNE FILLE COMME LES AUTRESby Matthew Frostvimeo.com/34247028FIFTY PENCEby Eric Kolelasvimeo.com/635500872011 TTB Film My Beautiful Island Dir. cutby JL Designvimeo.com/27050148Erberyby Maxime QuoilinWe are not aloneby Marc Gonzálezvimeo.com/99435053The Wild Phonograph Montita - Burma Border, Thailandby Chloe LyttleDon't Let The Day Get Away- Inspirit HSM_90_MASTER_V01by Hello Sunday Morningvimeo.com/125363045Meishan & Zachary Macro-filmby Kazaf Chan Cinematographyvimeo.com/87156932JE SUIS UN FILMby Lucas MaudouxJEPPE KOLSTRUP & ALEKSANDER HØRUP BROODS BRIDGESby THE WŒRKSvimeo.com/89896189By my Selfieby MediaLab EafitCYCLONE FASHION FILMby Adam McDaidvimeo.com/13398140270 Anosby Carlos Vieiravimeo.com/120715339Francis + Cassius Cape Cod Wedding Film in Provincetown, MAby Brighter Lights MediaFAMARADISEby MERAvimeo.com/106085624Where Do We Go From Here_ Occupy Wall St.by Ed DavidIndahnya Baliby MaartenFilmsvimeo.com/124390458Anita+Claudia Highlightsby 2become1vimeo.com/132419472SAME SAMEby Sylvain Coppensvimeo.com/120796371Parisby Conrad Golovacvimeo.com/125860366REMEMBER GABON [GH4 - Metabones Speedbooster]by David Mboussouvimeo.com/119287310Finding Welkinby Jay Salbertvimeo.com/89885058Mardi Gras 2011by Casey LatiolaisMission to Cambodiaby Paul Jeong
Dès Vu: The Awareness That This Will Become A Memory Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-08-29 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. Follow, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for:Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGY From French dès vu, "seen as soon as" or "seen from this point forward." Like déjà vu, but in the reverse order—already remembering something as you're living it. WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"The Bell Jar" by Aaron Peter Robinson & Justin John ShearnTRANSCRIPT You were born on a moving train. And even though it feels like you're standing still, time is sweeping past you, right where you sit. But once in a while you look up,and actually feel the inertia,and watch as the present turns into a memory —as if some future you is already looking back on it. Dès Vu. One day you’ll remember this moment, and it’ll mean something very different. Maybe you’ll cringe and laugh, or brim with pride, aching to return. or notice some detail hidden in the scene, a future landmark making its first appearance or discreetly taking its final bow. So you try to sense it ahead of time, looking for clues, as if you’re walking through the memory while it’s still happening, feeling for all the world like a time traveler. The world around you is secretly strange: some details are charming and dated, others precious and irretrievable, but all fade into the quaint texture of the day. You try to read the faces around you, each fretting about the day’s concerns, not yet realizing that this world is already out of their hands. That it doesn’t have to be this way, it just sort of happened, and everything will soon be completely different. Because you really are a time traveler, leaping into the future in little tentative steps. Just a kid stuck in a strange land without a map, With nothing to do but soak in the moment and take one last look before moving on. But another part of you is already an old man, looking back on things. Waiting at the door for his granddaughter, who’s trying to make her way home for a visit. You are two people still separated by an ocean of time, Part of you bursting to talk about what you saw, Part of you longing to tell you what it means.CREDITSVimeo.com - Creative Commons Attribution License-------The Train by Clara Cullen vimeo.com/33404470Train by Onn Halpern vimeo.com/5102227070 Anos by Carlos Vieira vimeo.com/12071533941st to 14th by Andrew Price vimeo.com/108307824My 2012 by Matt Bowers vimeo.com/56944413Neon: Short Film by Milan Gandhi vimeo.com/18168900Memories of 2013 by Matt Johanning vimeo.com/83468495Never Sleep by Colby Moore vimeo.com/106993739The London Feeling by Davide Quatela vimeo.com/77505528Memories in Moving Pictures 2012 by ER Alviz vimeo.com/57193728Ben // Year One by Scott Svare https://t.co/bPg7M9hkkQM is for Memories by Ellise Pizer vimeo.com/78309654Time for the Soul by Jasper Enujuba vimeo.com/112910338Footprints by WeiJia vimeo.com/67930455A Young Man by Clancy Morgan vimeo.com/102297130Alaska by Jem Moore vimeo.com/132911734
Ballagàrraidh: The Awareness That You Are Not at Home in the Wilderness Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-05-19 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). ˅˅˅ ETYMOLOGY, CREDITS, TRANSCRIPT & MORE ˅˅˅ETYMOLOGYFrom Gaelic balla gàrraidh, "garden wall."PRONUNCIATIONFor proper pronunciation go here: http://www.learngaelic.net/dictionary/?abairt=garden%20wallTHE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsWHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"HEART OF NATURE" BY DARYL NEIL ALEXANDER GRIFFITHVIDEO CREDITSVimeo Creative Commons Attribution License:Distress by Samuel Grandchampvimeo.com/63207132Vital Films - Close To Homeby Vital Filmsvimeo.com/57867933Robot Koch - Glassdrops (Official Music Video)by editude picturesvimeo.com/29841509PRANATICby SMALL BANGvimeo.com/55432735ICELAND In the land of landscapesby julienAMCvimeo.com/93007536ELENKA - Schmetterling (Music Video)by Helgi Jóhannssonvimeo.com/75504595The Suburbsby Yaël Bienenstockvimeo.com/103525520Kiwi Countryby Jean-Philippe Angers vimeo.com/124134526The Thirst for Adventureby Aaron Rickelvimeo.com/78685497Beyond the Wild Saving the Sacred Headwatersby SUMMER RAYNE OAKES vimeo.com/47615929Impressions of Greenlandby Florent Dubévimeo.com/82426476SICMANTA PRESENTS Donnie Vincents The Rivers Divide Trailerby Sicmantavimeo.com/64107884Dark seeks dark.by Hugo Martinez Toledovimeo.com/73343299Reverie by Daniella Golden vimeo.com/90395940The Pilgrims Litany All Hollowvimeo.com/59152756Monster Rally - Honey by Tyler Corayvimeo.com/44227406All men are called Robert Tous les hommes sappellent Robert by Insolence Productionsvimeo.com/28817159 TRANSCRIPTSometimes you move through the city and feel in your bones how strange and new this all is. The spectacle of modern civilization, just barely older than you are. With all its cramped logic, the artificial faces of asphalt and black glass; its rules and gridlines and rigid justifications for why the world must be the way it is. But there's a part of you that thinks: you are not at home here. That still remembers Eden, and longs to return.Ballagàrraidh.The story of humanity is a move from the countryside to the big city. But it's happened so fast our brains are still stuck in the hinterlands.So now a part of you longs to leave your car idling in traffic, and flee into the wilderness. To live off the land, without tools or simulations, to experience nature in all its simplicity-raw, indifferent, and ferociously real. To feel the lushness and harshness of the wild, the clarity of eating and killing and growing stronger, the dumb luck of surviving the night.But another part of you knows that Eden is a fantasy, and you'll always be floating just above it, trailing clouds of civilization wherever you go. Even our ancient symbols of nature are deeply unnatural. The plants we eat are sterile, swollen, unrecognizable to the food chain. Our domesticated animals are caricatures of their wild ancestors. The family dog is just another piece of technology, designed and bred to serve a purpose.And you too are a domesticated animal, shrouded in synthetic fibers and synthetic thoughts. Even if you sleep in the woods with a stove and a backpack, everything from the buzzing in your ears to the howling in the distance will be trying to telling you, you are not at home here.We need to believe in the fall from Eden. But all along, we were the ones who cast out the world. Who stripped it naked, taught it good and evil, and barricaded ourselves in a walled garden. We banished most of the world in order to get by. We couldn't handle the true state of nature-the overwhelming chaos-without first dividing it up in little boxes, in little frames, in little gardens.Maybe we were wrong from the start. In the beginning, there was everything.
Alazia: The Fear That You’re No Longer Able to Change Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-05-08 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Turkish god Alaz Khan, a fire deity in Turkic mythology. Alaz was an old man with a torch in his hand, who wore a cloak of fire.VIDEO CREDITSVimeo Creative Commons Attribution LicenseEdition Nikolas Kerl - The Making of Stan & Harvey by Edition Nikolas Kerl vimeo.com/96689963Crazy Woman Glassby Anthony Ngovimeo.com/74698765glass art by RYOby Miskos Production vimeo.com/88978819Kelly Lowe, Glass Artistby Barry Gray vimeo.com/69766899Glass Blowing at Rainier Glass Studioby Meg Fleshmanvimeo.com/118668516The Dark Roads to Trabzonby Amin Suwedi vimeo.com/108055734Antibes Ada Loumani, Verrier de Biot Endless Echovimeo.com/99131693makai storm vaseMakai Glass Creationsvimeo.com/69872123Pure Virtue Glass -2014 Flamefest-by Jon Cashvimeo.com/113668736the making of still & sparkling by nendo with lasvitby designboomvimeo.com/42825623John Pomp Promo Videoby Gregor Halendavimeo.com/43675578We Three Travellersby Tom Ganleyvimeo.com/125999257Aurora Village in Jan 2014by Jason Koovimeo.com/84243523BALLISTA! by Jeremy Snellvimeo.com/34421130Introducing- borrowedby birdhousevimeo.com/25865490Keep It Real - Teaser Season NYC 2013by Keep It Real vimeo.com/92751338One day-by Martin Jur?ivimeo.com/100130448Trance night vol. 2by AlternativeBoxProductionsvimeo.com/33556632Patrick + Elizabeth // The Mill Wedding Film in Spring Lake Heights, NJby Brighter Lights Mediavimeo.com/68569959the making of air swimming by anna paola cibin at carlo morettis glass factoryby designboomvimeo.com/102722201Vidrio soplado arte y oficioby Noelia Lópezvimeo.com/69969587Lampworkby Matt Rhodesvimeo.com/61435526Playing with Glass in Firozabadby Rajeev Lunkadyoutube.com/watch?v=ZhIqxOcPMysYouTube Creative Commons Attribution LicenseColor Run - La couleur Rose by Meeticby Meetic .fryoutube.com/watch?v=HPTPaMgbdugDesign Dictionary Glassblowingby Cooper Hewittyoutube.com/watch?v=8i-CRRlqBI42014 Chinese New Year HDby Yutub Makeryoutube.com/watch?v=2D87KqWNfDU
Koinophobia: The Fear that Youve Lived an Ordinary Life Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-04-30 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). While you're in it, life seems epic. Fiery, tenuous, and unpredictable. But once you have some distance from it, everything seems to shrink, until it's almost out of focus. So you begin scanning your life looking for something interesting or beautiful. But all you see is ordinary people assembled in their tiny classrooms and workspaces, each of us moving around in little steps, like tokens on a game board.ETYMOLOGYFrom Greek koinos, "common, ordinary, stripped of specialness" + phobia, "fear".THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsWHAT IS THAT MUSIC?"Through the Seasons" by Rupert Gregson-WilliamsCREDITSVimeo / YouTube Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution License, except where notedhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0A Small Film - (Tilt Shift)by Joel Cossonvimeo.com/27415248Bangkok rainy by wineakvimeo.com/25097441*Borgeous - Wildfire by Jeff Dotson [by permission]vimeo.com/97586810Don't Let The Day Get Away- Inspirit by Hello Sunday Morningvimeo.com/126202891Don't Let The Day Get Away- Motivateby Hello Sunday Morningvimeo.com/126202893Haneda Airport Tilt Shift by darwinfish105 Pvimeo.com/70941609Humble Along by Ryan Geburavimeo.com/120307682I love Japan- TIMELAPSE by Nicholas Damenvimeo.com/23131638II by TIM CIAVARAvimeo.com/74353770Little Adventures in Rotorua by Steven Willsvimeo.com/99392475Little Fo Tan by Niels Rahbekvimeo.com/17129128micro munich 2 - the next tale from above (Tilt-shift miniature city) by EXPLANIDEO HANDMADE INFOFILMS vimeo.com/32975207Mini Bal Harbour by SoFla360vimeo.com/11878382Miniature Cincinnati by Gus Geraci 1 year agovimeo.com/77563841Mitakon Zhongyi Lens ~ Test Review by IrfanKhokharFilmsyoutube.com/watch?v=VVboLw6J3nIMoments in Lens Whacking by Alessandro Faraonvimeo.com/48898314Roamin and Ramblin by Kate Lyonsvimeo.com/98193056Scrambling in Joshua Tree GH4 by Sean Daiglevimeo.com/110897085She Is Poetry by AJ Duthievimeo.com/54931861Summer Clouds & Night at Petco Park (Timelapse by Aloha-PhotoVideo.com) by Aloha PhotoVideovimeo.com/82849194The Moving Calgary by Charlie Suyoutube.com/watch?v=Dn2WOYKUatoTilt Shift by River Harbor vimeo.com/10123720Tilt Shift Streets by Juicy Frames vimeo.com/78244078Tilt-Shift Fonforro?n by lacazanyoutube.com/watch?v=LJFVmGoYPd8Time-lapse Tiny town Museum by BonelessChickenyoutube.com/watch?v=ITu7f-mDb08Tokyo City View Observatory Tilt Shift by darwinfish105youtube.com/watch?v=oL8B75QYT_wTokyo City View Tilt Shift by darwinfish105youtube.com/watch?v=qMuh4bT6wF8Toy Fowey by Matt Jefferiesvimeo.com/102523495York Harbor Inn Tilt Shift by Echodawgyoutube.com/watch?v=aCJ2w2wRj4U
Klexos: The Art of Dwelling on the Past Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-04-24 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. Your life is written in indelible ink. There's no going back to erase the past, tweak your mistakes, or fill in missed opportunities. When the moment’s over, your fate is sealed. But if look closer, you notice the ink never really dries on any our experiences. They can change their meaning the longer you look at them.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom German klecksography, the art of making images from inkblots, famously used in Rorschach psychoanalytic tests. Interpreting their ambiguity is thought to illuminate the subconscious of the patient.WHAT IS THAT SONG?"Haunted Hinterland" by Adam Paul Courtenay Burns, Jez Burnes and Christopher Mark SaltMAKING OFI created these images the old fashioned way, by taking stock footage of paint drips hitting canvas and flipping and rotating them to make figures and animations. Most images I stumbled upon accidentally while playing around, like the cover of this video, which depicts two friends in top hats toasting beers at a crowded bar. Or at least that's what I see. Making this video was incredibly satisfying. Creatively stimulating in a very simple way. I'd actually recommend inkblot art as a kind of anti-depressant. Possibly more so than actual psychoanalysis.TRANSCRIPTYour life is written in indelible ink. There's no going back to erase the past, tweak your mistakes, or fill in missed opportunities. When the moment's over, your fate is sealed. But if look closer, you notice the ink never really dries on any our experiences. They can change their meaning the longer you look at them.Klexos.There are ways of thinking about the past that aren't just nostalgia or regret. A kind of questioning that enriches an experience after the fact. To dwell on the past is to allow fresh context to trickle in over the years, and fill out the picture; to keep the memory alive, and not just as a caricature of itself. So you can look fairly at a painful experience, and call it by its name.Time is the most powerful force in the universe. It can turn a giant into someone utterly human, just trying to make their way through. Or tell you how you really felt about someone, even if you couldn't at the time. It can put your childhood dreams in context with adult burdens or turn a universal consensus into an embarrassing fad. It can expose cracks in a relationship that once seemed perfect. Or keep a friendship going by thoughts alone, even if you'll never see them again. It can flip your greatest shame into the source of your greatest power, or turn a jolt of pride into something petty, done for the wrong reasons, or make what felt like the end of the world look like a natural part of life.The past is still mostly a blank page, so we may be doomed to repeat it. But it's still worth looking into if it brings you closer to the truth.Maybe it's not so bad to dwell in the past, and muddle in the memories, to stem the simplification of time, and put some craft back into it. Maybe we should think of memory itself as an art form, in which the real work begins as soon as the paint hits the canvas. And remember that a work of art is never finished, only abandoned.
Zenosyne: The Sense That Time Keeps Going Faster Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-04-18 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. As a kid you run around so fast, the world around you seems to stand still. A summer vacation can stretch on for an eternity. With each birthday we circle back and cross the same point around the sun. We wish each other 'many happy returns.' But soon you feel the circle begin to tighten, and you realize it’s a spiral, and you’re already halfway through...THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows...The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Di...Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Greek, Zeno is derived from Zeno's Paradox, which asks how a person can walk from one point to another if they must first carry out a series of ever-shrinking steps, + Mnemosyne, the personification of memory in Ancient Greek mythology. How can we live our lives while each passing year feels shorter than the year before?TRANSCRIPTZenosyne.It's actually just after you're born that life flashes before your eyes.Entire aeons are lived in those first few months when you feel inseparable from the world itself, with nothing to do but watch it passing by.At first, time is only felt vicariously, as something that happens to other people. You get used to living in the moment, because there's nowhere else to go. But soon enough, life begins to move, and you learn to move with it. And you take it for granted that you're a different person every year,Upgraded with a different body...a different future. You run around so fast, the world around you seems to stand still. Until a summer vacation can stretch on for an eternity.You feel time moving forward, learning its rhythm, but now and then it skips a beat, as if your birthday arrives one day earlier every year.We should consider the idea that youth is not actually wasted on the young. That their dramas are no more grand than they should be. That their emotions make perfect sense, once you adjust for inflation. For someone going through adolescence, life feels epic and tragic simply because it is: every kink in your day could easily warp the arc of your story. Because each year is worth a little less than the last. And with each birthday we circle back, and cross the same point around the sun. We wish each other many happy returns.But soon you feel the circle begin to tighten, and you realize it's a spiral, and you're already halfway through. As more of your day repeats itself, you begin to cast off deadweight, and feel the steady pull toward your center of gravity, the ballast of memories you hold onto, until it all seems to move under its own inertia. So even when you sit still, it feels like you're running somewhere. And even if tomorrow you will run a little faster, and stretch your arms a little farther, you'll still feel the seconds slipping away as you drift around the bend.Life is short. And life is long. But not in that order.BIRTHDAY CANDLE PHOTO CREDITS[FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION LICENSE] The full list is too long for the description, so please click here: http://testtube.com/dictionaryofobscu...VIDEO CREDITS[YOUTUBE CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION LICENSE]The full list is too long for the description, so please click here: http://testtube.com/dictionaryofobscu...
Astrophe: The Feeling of Being Stuck on Earth Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-04-10 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. It's hard not to look at the ground as you walk. To set your sights low, and keep the world spinning, and try to stay grounded wherever you are. But every so often you remember to look up, and imagine the possibilities. Dreaming of what’s out there. Before long, you find yourself grounded once again. Grounded in the sense of being homebound. Stuck on the planet Earth.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGY: From Greek. Depending on how you slice it, astrophe could mean a couple different things: - a/strophe would be the act of not turning, or - astro/phe, the act of turning to the stars. Reader Krokonil suggested an alternate etymology, from Greek astron "star" + atrophy, the wasting away of muscles or organs due to lack of use or trauma). "For us the stars are wasting away, because we will never reach them."TRANSCRIPT:It's hard not to look at the ground as you walk. To set your sights low, and keep the world spinning, and try to stay grounded wherever you are. But every so often you remember to look up, and imagine the possibilities. Dreaming of what's out there. Before long, you find yourself grounded once again. Grounded in the sense of being homebound. Stuck on the planet Earth.The more you look to the sky, the more you find yourself back on Earth, confronting certain possibilities.It's possible there are other names for our planet, that we will never know.That there are constellations that feature our sun, from an angle we'll never get to see.That there are many other civilizations hidden beyond the veil of time, too far away for their light to ever reach us.We dream of other worlds, and name them after our old discarded gods, and they seem almost as distant-too far to be seen with the naked eye. Only ever in artist's renditions. Or a scattering of pixels on a monitor, with the colors tweaked to add a bit of flair.Even our own neighborhood is impossibly vast. We're used to showing the planets nested together-because if we drew them to scale, they'd be so far apart, they wouldn't fit on the same page.And even our own moon, that seems to hang so close to Earth. But still so far away that all the other planets could fit in the space between them.It's possible our spacesuits won't need treaded boots ever again. That one day soon we'll tire of wandering and move back home for good. And we'll get used to watching our feet as we walk, occasionally stopping to hurl a single probe into the abyss, like a message in a bottle.Maybe it shouldn't matter if anyone ever finds it. If nobody's there to know we once lived here on Earth.Maybe it should be like skipping a stone across the surface of a lake. It doesn't matter where it ends up, It just matters that we're here on the shore. Just trying to have fun and pass the time, and see how far it goes.
Kenopsia: The Eeriness of Places Left Behind Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-03-30 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. kenopsia, n. the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet—a school hallway in the evening, an unlit office on a weekend, vacant fairgrounds—an emotional afterimage that makes it seem not just empty but hyper-empty, with a total population in the negative, who are so conspicuously absent they glow like neon signs.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGY From Greek, kenosis "emptiness" + opsia "seeing"MUSIC"Golden Memories" by Simon Arthur RhodesTRANSCRIPTKenopsia.You can sense it when you move out of a house, noticing just how empty a place can feel. Walking through a school hallway in the evening, or an unlit office on a weekend, fairgrounds out of season. It's usually bustling with life, but now lies abandoned and quiet.It's easy to forget that most of your memories happened in places that are still around,the walls mostly unchanged, with even some of the same people, who carry on in your absence.But the world you once knew, and the people you still remember,have long since moved on, replaced by so many others who have passed through these doors.You try to stick around long enough to catch up with the memories,to finally linger in the life you spend so much time building up,hoping the world will stick around to keep you company.But eventually you'll pack up your things and walk through the house one last time. And not a day after you leave, it'll become someone else's new home, a blank canvas they'll fill up with their own memories. burying the life you built in a fresh coat of paint,leaving nothing but echoes of what was once here.Leaving the room not just empty but hyper-empty. with a total population in the negative, whose inhabitants are so conspicuously absent they glow like neon signs. Maybe that's why we want to believe in ghosts.Maybe it's just a fantasy. A fantasy that our memories are so powerful they'll leave a mark on the wallthat would mean something to someone else, and can't just be painted over.We just want to mark our time here, to keep the rooms filled and the memories alive. And if our houses are haunted, it'll be because we're haunting them ourselves,as if there was ever such a thing as unfinished business.
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-03-21 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS is a series about creating our own meaning. Each episode explores newly invented words for strangely powerful emotions, so we can better define what it feels like to be alive, and what it means to be a human being.Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Website http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comEmail the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsWHAT IS THAT MUSIC?: "Ambient Skies" by Ian Paul Livingstone and Stephen James Root.
Socha: The Hidden Vulnerability of Others Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-03-16 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. It’s the kind of basic human vulnerability that we’d all find familiar, but is still somehow surprising when we notice it in others. It’s an open question why we have such public confidence, and such private doubts.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Czech socha, "statue" or "the crotch of a tree."TRANSCRIPTThere's an optical illusion that's easy to fall for, even if you know the trick. The more distant you are from other people, the more invulnerable they appear.You see yourself as you are, with your flaws just as clear as your successes, but you see most other people on their terms, only from the side they present to the world, stoic and confident. And at first glance they've got everything figured out, with everything set in stone, securely embedded in their community, wrapped up with their loved ones, their lives like a finished work of art.But it's only just a trick of perspective: everyone else seems to be doing better than you, because you can't see the cracks from so far away. How insecure their footing, how malleable they really are. How many years of effort went into shaping their persona into something acceptable, how many other hands it took to build their lives, which are still only ever a work in progress.It's the kind of basic human vulnerability that we'd all find familiar, but is still somehow surprising when we notice it in others. It's an open question why we have such public confidence, and such private doubts.Maybe that contradiction is what keeps us moving, wanting to be more than what we are, and never be satisfied. Maybe it lets us keep our distance, to avoid too much friction as we brush past each other. Or maybe it's what draws us together, the only irreplaceable thing we still need each other for, just one last excuse to keep stopping by, so we can prop each other up, and remind us that nothing is set in stone, not even who we are, or who we pretend to be.
Yù Yī : The Desire to Feel Intensely Again Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-03-02 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. yù yī - 玉衣 n. the desire to see with fresh eyes, and feel things just as intensely as you did when you were younger—before expectations, before memory, before words.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Mandarin Chinese yù yī, literally "jade suit." Some Han dynasty royals were made to wear ceremonial burial suits made of jade, stitched together in hundreds of pieces threaded together, like a suit of armor made of jade. Literally, it is to be 'jaded' in an attempt to protect yourself. The Atlas Obscura article includes this detail, which is useful for the metaphor at hand: "Jade was believed to have preservative and protective qualities that would prevent the deterioration of soft tissues and keep away bad spirits. Yet beneath the stone suits there were only crumbled skeletons. Nevertheless, since jade is porous, it's possible that DNA from the royal couple might be embedded in the stones over 2,000 years after their deaths, giving them a form of immortality."
Ambedo: A Moment You Experience For Its Own Sake Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-02-15 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. ambedo - n. a kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details-raindrops skittering down a window, tall trees leaning in the wind, clouds of cream swirling in your coffee. --- All the gorgeous beach and desert footage was shot and contributed by reader Jeff Dotson. Check out more of his work at http://www.andeffects.com or on Vimeo at vimeo.com/dotson --- And if you have footage that might fit well in a future Dictionary episode, send me an email at obscuresorrows at gmail.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGY From Latin, it's a play on the word "albedo," which is a measure of light reflectivity. "Ambedo" is the opposite, a measure of how much you absorb the world.
Nodus Tollens: When Your Life Doesnt Fit into a Story Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-02-02 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. nodus tollensn. the realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore-that although you thought you were following the arc of the story, you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don't understand, that don't even seem to belong in the same genre-which requires you to go back and reread the chapters you had originally skimmed to get to the good parts, only to learn that all along you were supposed to choose your own adventure.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Latin, literally "the knot that denies by denying." In propositional logic, modus tollens (with an m) is a kind of argument that goes like this: "If P, then Q. But Q is not. Therefore, P must not be." Also known as going back and questioning your first assumptions when things don't work out the way you thought they would. Sounds poetic, in a Vulcan kinda way.TRANSCRIPT:Your life is a story. The days flip past, too quickly to absorb, a mess of seemingly random events. So you look back and highlight certain moments as important, as turning points in the main plot. You trace each thread back to its origin, finding omens and ironies scattered along the way, until it all feels inevitable, and your life makes sense. You know how this story is going to end, but you’re still eager to skip ahead, dying to know what happens next.But there are times when you look up and realize that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore. You thought you were following the arc of the story, but you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don’t understand. Either everything seems important or nothing does. It’s a tangled mess of moments that don’t even seem to belong in the same genre, that keeping changing depending on what you choose to highlight. What kind of story is this? Just another coming-of-age tale, the same one your parents told, with the names switched around? Is your everyday life part of the origin story of something truly epic? Are you unwittingly getting by on other people’s charity, mistaking your own luck for your own success? Are you a character in a romance, a tragedy, a travelogue, or just another cautionary tale?As you thumb through the years, you may never know where this all is going. The only thing you know is that there’s more to the story. That soon enough you’ll flip back to this day looking for clues of what was to come, rereading all the chapters you skimmed through to get to the good parts—only to learn that all along you were supposed to choose your own adventure.
Opia: The Ambiguous Intensity of Eye Contact Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-01-18 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. opia - n. the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable--their pupils glittering, bottomless and opaque--as if you were peering through a hole in the door of a house, able to tell that there’s someone standing there, but unable to tell if you’re looking in or looking out.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Ancient Greek opia, plural of "opium" + opia, "of the eyes." Thus, eye contact is the opiates of the eyes. Sure it's quite a trip, but what does it really reveal?COMMENTARYOne thing I find fascinating about eye contact is how utterly mutual it is. In order to get access to someone's eyes you have to expose your own at exactly the same time. Like poker. You lock eyes across a party, and ante up in order to play. "I see your sublimated frustration at being out of place, and raise you an empathic nod." "I see your flirtatious glance, and raise you a tension-diffusing comedic eyebrow wiggle." You push your chips forward, then you show your cards. Eye contact is such a delicate and dangerous art. Even holding it a half-second too long can radically change its meaning, like a wayward brushstroke on a painting that can radically shift an expression from dismissive to neutral, or from flirty to wary to sardonic, or from suspicious to threatening to seductive to unspoken bond to wordless gratitude then back around to murderous.The final line "So we're all just exchanging glances, trying to tell each other who we are" is deliberately vague. You are trying to tell others who you are, but you're also trying to hint to them who they are. That sort of external identity reinforcement sounds weak and self-conscious, but damned if it isn't true. Perhaps a more fitting card game metaphor is Indian poker, in which everyone can see your card but you. So you have to watch their faces for cues. Without them, your identity will feed back on itself, rounding up into grandiosity or down into depression, and you go crazy.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWSFrom The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a web series that defines newly invented words for strangely powerful emotions. New episodes every Sunday, on TestTube and YouTube. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for. The author's mission is to capture the aches, demons, vibes, joys and urges that roam the wilderness of the psychological interior. Each sorrow is bagged, tagged and tranquilized, then released gently back into the subconscious.TRANSCRIPTOpia. So much can be said in a glance. Such ambiguous intensity, both invasive and vulnerable—glittering black, bottomless and opaque. The eye is a keyhole, through which the world pours in and a world spills out. And for a few seconds, you can peek through into a vault, that contains everything they are. But whether the eyes are the windows of the soul or the doors of perception, it doesn't matter: you're still standing on the outside of the house. Eye contact isn't really contact at all. It's only ever a glance, a near miss, that you can only feel as it slips past you. There’s so much we keep in the back room. We offer up a sample of who we are, of what we think people want us to be. But so rarely do we stop to look inside, and let our eyes adjust, and see what's really there. Because you too are peering out from behind your own door. You put yourself out there, trying to decide how much of the world to let in. It's all too easy for others to size you up, and carry on their way. They can see you more clearly than you ever could. And yours is the only vault you can't see into, that you can't size up in an instant. So we're all just exchanging glances, trying to tell each other who we are, trying to catch a glimpse of ourselves, feeling around in the darkness.
Olēka: The Awareness of How Few Days Are Memorable Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2015-01-04 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. Another day, another week, another year. We've heard this song before. Our lives are built of the same few notes, repeated over and over. It’s not a grand symphony, full of surprises. It’s a song sung in canon, that simply carries on, until the tune gets stuck in your head. But then the verse changes over, and for the life of you, you can’t remember how it's supposed to go. THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGYFrom Greek apololeka, "losing." (Thanks to reader Christos Frantzolas)TRANSCRIPT: "Your life is a highlight reel: a gradual search for a handful of memories. We like to think that every moment has potential, that there’s something transcendent hidden all around, that if you’d only stop to seize the day, you could hold onto it and carry it with you. But the truth is, most of life is forgotten instantly, almost as it’s happening. Chances are that even a day like today will slip through your fingers and dissolve into oblivion, washed clean by the tides.Such is the rhythm of ordinary time: the featureless stretches between one memory and the next, the thousand acts of maintenance you do every day. You keep your body going, hauling it back and forth from one place to the next. You breathe in and out. Things fall apart, you clean up the mess. And it all washes away in the night, to be built up again in the morning. You throw the week against the wall to see what sticks, hoping you will remember something that happened today, anything.Most of our lives are spent in the hinterlands, the empty stretches we fly over to get to the good parts. And you wonder how you could spend so much time just pushing back against the current, trying to keep your small boat afloat, watching for a glimmer on the horizon, waiting for those moments when you can finally say, eureka! “I’ve found it!”But it’s all happening—it’s all real—whether you’ll remember it or not. So you might as well say ol?ka!—"I've lost it!"—as if to mark the passage of yet another opportunity, flushed down the hourglass. A final toast to the endless forgotten days, whose humble labor has given you everything you have, at least for the moment.As the song says: long live the high tide and long live the low, but above all, long live the difference."
Anemoia: Nostalgia For A Time You’ve Never Known Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2014-12-21 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” –L.P. HartleyLooking at old photos, it's hard not to feel a kind of wanderlust—a pang of nostalgia for times you've never experienced. The desire to wade into the blurred-edge sepia haze that hangs in the air between people who leer stoically into this dusty and dangerous future, whose battered shoes are anchors locked fast in the fantasy that none of it risks turning out any other way but the way it happened.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrows
Onism: The Awareness of How Little of the World Youll Experience Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2014-12-07 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. onism - n. the frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only one place at a time, which is like standing in front of the departures screen at an airport, flickering over with strange place names like other people's passwords, each representing one more thing you'll never get to see before you die-and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, you are here.THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows...The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Di...Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGY: Portmanteau of monism + onanism. In philosophy, monism is the view that a variety of things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance, or a distinct source. Onism is a kind of monism, because your life is indeed limited to a single reality—by virtue of being restricted to a single body—but something is clearly missing. Meanwhile, onanism is another word for self-pleasure, transfixed inside your own menagerie of fantasies like going on a sightseeing tour your own apartment—frustrating in its closed-off familiarity. Again, something is missing.MUSIC CREDITS: "The Limits of Rationality" by Ian Paul Livingstone & Stephen James RootTRANSCRIPTYou are here. You were lost at first, but soon began sketching yourself a map of the world—plotting the contours of your life.And like the first explorers, sooner or later you have to contend with the blank spaces on the map. All the experiences you've never had. The part of you still aching to know what's out there. Eventually these questions take on a weight of their own, and begin looming over your everyday life.All the billions of doors you had to close in order to take a single step forward. All the things you haven't done and may never get around to doing; all the risks that may or may not have been real; all the destinations you didn't buy a ticket to; all the lights you see in the distance that you can only wonder about; all the alternate histories you narrowly avoided; all the fantasies that stay dormant inside your head; everything you're giving up, to be where you are right now; the questions that you wrongly assumed were unanswerable.It's strange how little of the universe we actually get to see. Strange how many assumptions we have to make just to get by, stuck in only one body, in only one place at a time. Strange how many excuses we've invented to explain why so much of life belongs in the background. Strange that any of us could ever feel at home on such an alien world.We sketch monsters on the map because we find their presence comforting. They guard the edges of the abyss, and force us to look away; so we can live comfortably in the Known World, at least for a little while.But if someone were to ask you on your deathbed what it was like to live here on Earth, perhaps the only honest answer would be, "I don't know. I passed through it once, but I've never really been there."
Avenoir: The Desire To See Memories In Advance Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2014-11-23 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. We take it for granted that life moves forward. But you move as a rower moves, facing backwards—you can see where you've been, but not where you're going. And your boat is steered by a younger version of you. It's hard not to wonder what life would be like facing the other way…THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrows
Vemödalen: The Fear That Everything Has Already Been Done Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2014-11-09 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. vemödalen - n. the frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist—the same sunset, the same waterfall, the same curve of a hip, the same closeup of an eye—which can turn a unique subject into something hollow and pulpy and cheap, like a mass-produced piece of furniture you happen to have assembled yourself. | Photo credits: pastebin.com/jWWQN3SzTHE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrowsETYMOLOGY: From Swedish vemod, "tender sadness, pensive melancholy" + Vemdalen, the name of a Swedish town. Swedish place names are the source of IKEA's product names—the original metaphor for this idea was that these clichéd photos are a kind of prefabricated furniture that you happen to have built yourself. As a side note, the umlaut isn't proper Swedish, but I liked the idea of a little astonished face (ö) sitting in the middle of the word.TRANSCRIPTVemödalen.You are unique. And there are seven billion others, just as unique as you. Each of us is different, with some new angle on the world. But what does it mean if the lives we’re busy shaping by hand, all end up looking the same—easily replaced by a thousand identical others?So we all spread out, looking for scraps of frontier, trying to capture something special, something personal. As if we’re afraid of being captured ourselves—so quickly pegged for exactly what we are—so easily mistaken for someone ordinary, just like everyone else.It should be a comfort that we’re not so different, that our perspectives so neatly align, that these same images keep showing up, again and again. It’s alright if we tell the same jokes we’ve all heard before, it’s alright if we keep remaking the same movies. it’s alright if we keep saying the same phrases to each other, as if they had never been said before.‘The powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.’ You and I and seven billion others will leave our mark on this world we’ve inherited. But if, in the end, we find ourselves with nothing left to say, nothing new to add, idly tracing outlines left by others long ago, it will be as if we weren’t here at all.This too has been said many times before. ‘The powerful play goes on.’ But when you get your cue, you say your line.
Sonder: The Realization That Everyone Has A Story Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2014-10-26 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. sonder - n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.Narrated, written, directed, edited and coined by John Koenig. THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrows.....Music: “Day" by Stephen Hilton....."Sonder. You are the main character—the protagonist—the star at the center of your own unfolding story. You're surrounded by your supporting cast: friends and family hanging in your immediate orbit. Scattered a little further out, a network of acquaintances who drift in and out of contact over the years. But there in the background, faint and out of focus, are the extras. The random passersby. Each living a life as vivid and complex as your own. They carry on invisibly around you, bearing the accumulated weight of their own ambitions, friends, routines, mistakes, worries, triumphs and inherited craziness. When your life moves on to the next scene, theirs flickers in place, wrapped in a cloud of backstory and inside jokes and characters strung together with countless other stories you'll never be able to see. That you'll never know exists. In which you might appear only once. As an extra sipping coffee in the background. As a blur of traffic passing on the highway. As a lighted window at dusk."
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: For Lack Of A Better World Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows 2014-10-24 | THE BOOK IS HERE, with hundreds of new definitions: bit.ly/3z1RYvH Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook, read by the author. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows defines newly invented words for strangely powerful emotions. Written, edited, and narrated by John Koenig. THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.comThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.Email the author: obscuresorrows@gmail.comFacebook facebook.com/pages/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/137197489655526Twitter @ObscureSorrows twitter.com/obscuresorrows
