There are so many thoughts and emotions we all experience on a daily basis. Not all of them can be described as easily as hunger or exhaustion. Some are far more complex. I have compiled a list of words you have probably been looking for all your life to describe how you feel. Many of these words were created by John Koenig and more can be found in his "Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows."
1. Rubatosis- The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat
For me, this often comes late at night. My heartbeat becomes so loud that I can’t seem to focus on anything else, let alone try and sleep.
2. Jouska- a hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head
Don’t even lie, you've done it.
3. Chrysalism- the amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm.
Possibly one of the best feelings in the world. An overwhelming sense of safety and serenity.
4. Mauerbauertraurigkeit- the inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you really like.
I am constantly “mauerbauertraurigkeit-ing.” I must stop “mauerbauertraurigkeit-ing.”
5. Phosphenes- The light and colors produced by rubbing your eyes.
Who knew this even had a name? I always called it the “eye kaleidoscope.”
6. Sonder- The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
When I first saw this definition I felt so satisfied. This is an idea I have constantly tried to explain to people—“do you ever just look at someone and think ‘that human is a person with their own thoughts and life and everything’?” Only to have them look at me like I’m crazy.
7. Nighthawk- A recurring thought that only seems to strike you late at night.
We all experience it—as soon as you turn your light off at night, it hits you. You remember that you have to finish your history paper, or you remember that you have to do something you dread that week. The worst.
8. Xeno- the smallest measurable unit of human connection, typically exchanged between passing strangers—a flirtatious glance, a sympathetic nod, or a shared laugh.
Such a simple concept, but it can turn your whole day around.
9. Ambedo- 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.
We have all done this—that “staring into space” when you are so fixated on something that you don’t even want to blink or focus your eyes.
10. Mimeomia- the frustration of knowing how easily you fit into a stereotype, even if you never intended to.
Mimeomia can be felt when you post an Instagram picture of a sunset, put your starbucks drink on your Snapchat story, or even when you throw on cat ears and call it a halloween costume. Sigh.
11. Kenopsia- the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet.
Wether it's the school hallway right before a firedrill or the mall at closing time, this can give you an undeniable feeling of paranoia.
