Of Liff, Liberession and Everything
Okay okay, before you protest about the last post being an empty threat and all that, let me say that all I meant was the entries here will be less frequent for the next few weeks/months (not that I was all that regular!) and also thank you for your support and all that jazz...
So, by way of explanation of the title, I should first acknowledge the wondrous Douglas Adams, and say thanks to Nocturne for making me pick up "The Salmon of Doubt" which was my traveling companion this past week which turned out to be a Very Interesting Week.
One of the chapters talks about the Meaning of Liff (follow link for explanation). Here's an excerpt from it:
We rapidly discovered that there were an awful lot of experiences, ideas, and situations that everybody knew and recognized, but that never got properly identified simply because there wasn't a word for them. They were all of the "Do you ever have a situation where..." or "You know what feeling you get when..." or "You know, I always thought it was just me..." kind. All it needs is a word and the thing is identified.So the vaguely uncomfortable feeling you got from sitting on a seat which is warm from somebody else's bottom is just as real a feeling as the one you get when a rogue giant elephant charges out of the bush at you, but hitherto only the latter has actually had a word for it. Now they both have words. The first one is "shoeburyness" and the second of course is "fear".
"What a tremendously exciting idea!"I thought. I'm not the first person to think we should have more words to describe those complicated feelings/situations that we need at least a paragraph to describe!
So here's my first contribution to the Meaning Of My Liff: LIBERESSION.
Liberession is the feeling you get when you are alone, trying to enjoy yourself, psyched by the idea that there is no pesky significant other present to drag you down/pile on you, exhilarated with the sense of liberation and discovery but strangely lonely and upset that there's nobody to share the moment with you, and depressed as a result of it. Get it? No? Perhaps a few choice examples will help...
Liberession is when you get your driver's license and are celebrating your triumph by eating the yummiest chocolate brownie a la mode. By yourself. At a cheesy diner. At 2:30 in the afternoon.
Liberession is when you are put up in a fabulous hotel in Europe because you had to miss the flight connection to the US, and you celebrate New Year with a bunch of really cool strangers and drink a lot of apple wine. And think of the family you've left behind. And the friends who are dancing and wishing you were with them.
Liberession is going to watch one of your favorite bands in concert alone because noone else you know wants to spend $40 on a ticket. But with the first chords of "Ants Marching" your self-consciousness disappears into thin air, and you cheer louder than the pot-smoking fifteen year olds to your right. And then try to look invisible and melt into embarassed nothingness.
Liberession is when you realize you are alone in a new place and having a wonderful time. But. Nobody. In. The. Entire. World. Knows. Where. You. Are. Because. Your. Cellphone. Is. Dead. And. Your. Travel. Plans. Changed. At. The. Last. Minute.
Liberession is when you walk back to your room slowly after your first kiss. With absolutely the wrong person. At absolutely the wrong time in your life. But still tingling from the feeling it left you with. Realizing that you've missed the boat on the Perfect First Kiss because you wasted it on the wrongest possible person you could have possibly picked to waste it on. But it felt so good!
Liberession is when you first listen to Clapton and Harrison's version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and want to hug the person who introduced it to you but realize that a hug doesn't travel 1021.5 miles.
Liberession is when the shoes you've been following all season finally go on sale. And you get the last pair in the store. And realize that your friend who's been stalking them as well will have missed the deal. And you wish she was the same size so you could share them. But you realize that life is suddenly so much better now that you have The Shoes :)
So, by way of explanation of the title, I should first acknowledge the wondrous Douglas Adams, and say thanks to Nocturne for making me pick up "The Salmon of Doubt" which was my traveling companion this past week which turned out to be a Very Interesting Week.
One of the chapters talks about the Meaning of Liff (follow link for explanation). Here's an excerpt from it:
We rapidly discovered that there were an awful lot of experiences, ideas, and situations that everybody knew and recognized, but that never got properly identified simply because there wasn't a word for them. They were all of the "Do you ever have a situation where..." or "You know what feeling you get when..." or "You know, I always thought it was just me..." kind. All it needs is a word and the thing is identified.So the vaguely uncomfortable feeling you got from sitting on a seat which is warm from somebody else's bottom is just as real a feeling as the one you get when a rogue giant elephant charges out of the bush at you, but hitherto only the latter has actually had a word for it. Now they both have words. The first one is "shoeburyness" and the second of course is "fear".
"What a tremendously exciting idea!"I thought. I'm not the first person to think we should have more words to describe those complicated feelings/situations that we need at least a paragraph to describe!
So here's my first contribution to the Meaning Of My Liff: LIBERESSION.
Liberession is the feeling you get when you are alone, trying to enjoy yourself, psyched by the idea that there is no pesky significant other present to drag you down/pile on you, exhilarated with the sense of liberation and discovery but strangely lonely and upset that there's nobody to share the moment with you, and depressed as a result of it. Get it? No? Perhaps a few choice examples will help...
Liberession is when you get your driver's license and are celebrating your triumph by eating the yummiest chocolate brownie a la mode. By yourself. At a cheesy diner. At 2:30 in the afternoon.
Liberession is when you are put up in a fabulous hotel in Europe because you had to miss the flight connection to the US, and you celebrate New Year with a bunch of really cool strangers and drink a lot of apple wine. And think of the family you've left behind. And the friends who are dancing and wishing you were with them.
Liberession is going to watch one of your favorite bands in concert alone because noone else you know wants to spend $40 on a ticket. But with the first chords of "Ants Marching" your self-consciousness disappears into thin air, and you cheer louder than the pot-smoking fifteen year olds to your right. And then try to look invisible and melt into embarassed nothingness.
Liberession is when you realize you are alone in a new place and having a wonderful time. But. Nobody. In. The. Entire. World. Knows. Where. You. Are. Because. Your. Cellphone. Is. Dead. And. Your. Travel. Plans. Changed. At. The. Last. Minute.
Liberession is when you walk back to your room slowly after your first kiss. With absolutely the wrong person. At absolutely the wrong time in your life. But still tingling from the feeling it left you with. Realizing that you've missed the boat on the Perfect First Kiss because you wasted it on the wrongest possible person you could have possibly picked to waste it on. But it felt so good!
Liberession is when you first listen to Clapton and Harrison's version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and want to hug the person who introduced it to you but realize that a hug doesn't travel 1021.5 miles.
Liberession is when the shoes you've been following all season finally go on sale. And you get the last pair in the store. And realize that your friend who's been stalking them as well will have missed the deal. And you wish she was the same size so you could share them. But you realize that life is suddenly so much better now that you have The Shoes :)
posted by RTD2 at 7:22 PM
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