The Dictionary

Yesterday, during a lengthy chat with one of my students, I was told about something called "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows."

This New York Times bestseller is an odd collection of words gathered under six headings; worldview and desire, selfhood and identity, relationships and intimacy, society and alienation, time and memory, and finally, uncertainty and chaos. Even the table of contents left me feeling dizzy. Which is how I came to choose the following word for today's byte:

etterath

n. the feeling of emptiness after a long and arduous process is finally complete -- having finished school, recovered from surgery, or gone home at the end of your wedding -- leaving you feeling relieved it's over but missing the stress that organized your life's mission. 

With Commencement just around the corner, it's no wonder this definition struck a chord with me. That's the thing about endings. Always bittersweet........

"Life is our dictionary." - Ralph Waldo Emerson