Tag: words

apolytus– n. the moment you realize you are changing as a person, finally outgrowing your old problems like a reptile shedding its skin, already able to twist back around and chuckle at this weirdly antiquated caricature of yourself that will soon come off completely.

I don’t know if I am changing that much, though hopefully I’m still maturing a bit. More, I think about my daughter, who graduates college this year. She’s changed so much in the five years since she left home for college, outgrowing the problems and concerns she had as an 18-year old.

I think I went through that myself, leaving home at 17 for college, coming back 4 years later a completely different person, viewing the world completely differently.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

the wends– n. the frustration that you’re not enjoying an experience as much as you should, which prompts you to try plugging in various through combinations to trigger anything more intense than roaring static, as if your heart had been inadvertently demagnetized by a surge of expectations.

That is quite a definition. I don’t know if I experience the wends often, or not to that extent, but I do sometimes look at an experience that everyone around me seems to be enjoying. Or many people I know are enjoying.

And I’m not. Or not much.

Sometimes this is music, where lots of people like something I don’t. Maybe it’s a place or experience.

Maybe it’s me.

I try to step back and think about what other people see, or why they like it. Maybe that is the wends.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

alazia– n. the fear that you’re no longer able to change..

I don’t have alazia. I’m always thinking I change, sometimes even when I don’t want to. Certainly my body continues to change as I age, which is very hard to take.

I do get set in ways, but I’m also willing to change and try new things. Not too often, or maybe not often, but I drive different routes, I notice different things and try new restaurants or experiences, I go to new places, I work differently and experiment to see if I can find something that works better, I like better, etc.

I live a DevOps life, experimenting and learning.

And changing

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

1202– n. the tipping point when your brain becomes so overwhelmed with tasks you need to do, you feel too guilty to put anything off until later, prioritizing every little thing at the top of the list, leaving you immobilized.

Not quite a word, but still a fun concept. Do you get so overwhelmed you prioritize everything on the list? Are you immobilized?

I don’t and I’m not. I don’t get 1202.

I go get overwhelmed, but I still can add things to my list, or lists. Things to learn, things to fix, etc. Often, however, I’m not immobilized here, even if I prioritize some things. What I might do if I’m overwhelmed is either buckle down and do one thing, or give up and do something completely different.

FWIW, this comes from the lunar descent of Apollo 11 where the 1202 alarm was the one the computer set off when there was too much data to process.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows