When you view life as a certain state of being and allow its eccentricities to be the fabric of your existence, beginnings and endings fade away. The nature of eternity, endless space, and a higher power greater, even, than the sum of all in this known world, yields an understanding maybe not quite right but inherently capable of satisfying human inquisitiveness.

So it is when you enter the world of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, written by John Koening, and published in 2021. My internet friend, Wikipedia, says it is an “English word-construction project seeking to coin and define neologisms (new words) for emotions not yet described in language.” The author apparently started the project when he could not find the right words to use in his poetry. American ingenuity at its finest, yes?

You should do your own research, trust me, but here are some of my favorites, including “sonder”, the original word which tickled my fancy so much a rush to the bathroom was required to avoid dampening my boxers. I’ve paraphrased definitions to fit more in, but take a look at the book and website of the same name for more mental exercise and amusement.

SONDER: “noun, the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own–populated with their own ambitions, friends, worries and as much inherited craziness as your own.”

EISCE: noun, “the awareness of the infinitesimal role you play in shaping your own society.”

KENAWAY: noun, “the longing to see how other people live their lives when they’re not in public”.

Hm. These three words, alone, distill years and paragraphs of college dorm room discussions into three nouns. At least for a private, Liberal Arts school. It’s fun to imagine, too, how new words describe things new to humankind. Imagine a caveman feeling any of these words, and wondering “is it just me?”

As modern life exponentially grows in complexity, it makes sense we need new words to describe the mental, emotional, and physical realities humans encounter as they grow with it, but is it socially efficient to simply make up or own words? Fick, (sic) if I know.

I do know that if everyone sondered* more the world would be a better place. If everyone was aware of their eisce we’d be a humbler, intelligent society instead of one full of minor, local dictators trying to change reality. And if kenaway becomes a legal defense for peeping,…”Your honor, I was simply kenawaying*.”

The best part of the whole word discussion is…the discussion, the dialogue. New words, old words, it matters only if we understand them, use them, and share them in thoughtful, humane conversations, sog sam it.

The only true fear is for grammar and punctuation. A world with new words, misplaced commas, no periods, and an epidemic of dangling participles will be the end of us all.

*I’ve always hated turning a noun into a verb, but it’s so much fun…