Yesterday, I popped into the boys' school, because Johnny had a piece of art selected for the drawing exhibition. It was a digestive biscuit. Parental support seemed in order. I very much enjoyed seeing the biscuit and many other imaginative and accomplished pieces of art, but my favourite find of the evening came on the way out. There is building work going on at the school and they have chosen to use the protective hoarding in an imaginative and educational way - there are interesting facts about the history of the school, illustrations by students, portholes through which you can glimpse the new building emerging and a couple of panels which act as dry erase boards - one for maths conundrums and another reserved for the word of the week. And it was this, which caught my eye.
Such a joy to discover Tsundoku - which, judging by the response on Instagram, is a concept that many of us recognise but probably never felt the need for a word to articulate. And that is the beauty of words - their power to unite and to evoke an emotional response.
Instagram is supposed to be all about images, but I love the words captured there too. Somehow all the more poignant for their brevity. So I was totally up for it when Megan threw down the gauntlet of an Instagram challenge for this year. A monthly word to be used as a creative stimulus for the month.
And January's word - wish.
Small word - BIG emotional response from me.
I don't like wish.
Wish smacks to me of weakness, of things outside my control, of waiting, like a small child, for someone to come and fix things and make everything better. Wish smacks of regret for things un-done, for opportunities wasted. Wishing is not my style. The only thing I really wished for last month was for Spring to hurry up and arrive. And even then, I am supposed to be working on enjoying the process and not fixating on the end goal, so wishing away the days didn't seem right either.
Sorry Megan. I wasn't terribly good with wish. I didn't even know I had strong feelings about it as a word until you chose it. Gusset, I already knew I disliked. And moist. Please tell me neither of those are in our future.
This month - different story. The word is delicious. Something I can get behind whole-heartedly. I am a HUGE fan of delicious.
Funnily enough I'd come across the word tsundoku before I saw your ig post -recently, not sure where -internet obvs. It must be having its moment.
I'm a huge fan of delicious too. Who isn't?
Posted by: Sue | 09 February 2017 at 11:08
I agree with you! I love that Japanese word but I expect I shall forget it before I want to use it...
Posted by: Toffeeapple | 09 February 2017 at 17:01
Tsundoku... what a great word. I'd never thought about it before but I'm with you on 'wish' for the most part, but like the idea of wishing on behalf of others
Posted by: Gina | 10 February 2017 at 20:54
must remember this word!
... it's delicious... (see what I've done here?)
Posted by: monica | 22 February 2017 at 07:29
Mmm. Digestive biscuits...
Posted by: The Coffee Lady | 28 February 2017 at 11:16
I am well guilty of a tsundoku of books. But I love the irrational hatred of such a wishy washy word as wish.
Posted by: Jo Kneale | 23 March 2017 at 22:06