I discovered a new word this past weekend and got really excited.  I mean, really, how often do we come across new words that we can use?  And, what is more important to how we are in the world than the words we use?

Intellectually, at least, I get that it is the words I “own” and the words I choose not to “own”, my relationship to them and how I string them together into sentences and those sentences into stories that define me…that make me, me.

For the most part, I have taken my vocabulary lightly.  But, there have been “important” words that, in the making them mine, have changed both my inner and outer dialogues drastically and thus changed my experiences. 

Take the word “discernment”, for example.  Such a simple word to write and pronounce yet it points to one of the most impactful and difficult areas in my life:  what to say, when to say it, how to say it and whether or not to say it.  Getting better at it has required emptying all my baggage onto the floor and sorting through it piece by tiny piece…a process I wish I could say was complete.

 Another word, that I used to not like very much, is “humanness”.  When I’m “being human” that normally means I didn’t censor my reaction and no telling what came out of me.  The beauty in that is sometimes it is beautiful, extraordinary, beyond loving and completely alive.  Sometimes though, it is raw and scary.  Now I see discernment and humanness going hand-in-hand, sort of like yin and yang, and I adore it.  What an amazing, descriptive word and I’m glad it is now part of the lens I look through.

 A word I just realized I don’t own is the word “yes”.  In training dogs for agility “yes” is said to the dog pretty much every time they do something right…except for my poor dog, that is.  Sure he gets a lot of “goods” but they pale in comparison to the positive energy in a hearty “yesss”.  It’s crazy how unfamiliar to me this simple word is and how difficult it is to get it into my mouth.  Unlike the word “no” which is spoken swiftly, I clearly don’t own “yes” yet and can’t help but wonder what impact that has on my experiences. 

So the word I discovered this past weekend is “Platzgeist”.  It sounds strange and hard but apparently it points to a very sweet notion:  to capture the “spirit” of some place or some one (in writing).   

It excited me because it is a single word that I can apply in my little head to all that is wrapped up in the idea that the stories I tell myself and others are, to a very great extent, what determines who I am.  At least, that’s one of the meaning I’m choosing to attribute to it.  I needed a good word for that and my thanks go to “Via” (the magazine of Triple A) for introducing me to it.

The other, more universal, definition I will also use is why I love to read the works of certain authors and poets.  I love it when they use only black words on white paper to take me into the heart of a moment…into the middle of a time and a place.  Take the first lines of a poem by Shel Silverstein: 

“There is a place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft & white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind…”

To my knowledge, this place exists only in imagination yet every time I read the poem, it’s as though I can feel the air in my lungs and the dew on my toes.  Perhaps this is truly what is meant by platzgeist? 

Here’s my attempt at it: 

The autumn wind is angry, ripping yellow leaves off their tender branches and smashing them violently against my windows.  It’s like watching two scorned lovers dance a tango.  I decide not to cut in for these two are perfect for each other.   

How fun was that (for me, at least)?  New energy is freeing and inspiring and I would so love to “own” this word in that way. 

Here’s a final example of platzeist…John Muir may or may not have heard the word before yet he certainly owned it when he wrote:  “How deep our sleep last night in the mountain’s heart, beneath the trees and stars, hushed by solemn sounding waterfalls and many small soothing voices in sweet accord whispering peace!”