Word every Gracious Individual should know: Viridity

Definition: Viridity; Middle English; noun
1. Naïve innocence.

Why I love this word:
This word also means the quality or condition of being green. But the two terms relate. It's about youth and being clean, unused, or this sense of freshness. It's that time where you are still growing and you have this naïve outlook at the world because you haven't experienced all that the world may throw at you. It's a beautiful innocence. It's the innocence of discovering who you are and realizing it's only the beginning. 

Photograph from Tumblr

Word every Gracious Individual should know: L'appel du Vide

Definition: L'appel du Vide; French; noun
1. The call of the void.

Why I love this word:
This French word describes the unexplainable desire to jump when on the edge of a cliff, or to jerk the steering wheel just to the right to take a flying leap off the mountain side, or that inclination to walk right into the ocean and never return. I don't think this word was meant in a morbid way. It doesn't describe suicidal attempts. The French simply have coined a word for the psychological phenomenon in which perfectly sane people, with no desire to die, find themselves faced with a steep cliff and experience a strong desire to leap. To jump from their safe vantage point into the unknown. Call of the Void. It's a call of the siren song. 

Photograph from Tumblr

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Frisson

Definition: Frisson (pronounced frēˈsôN); French; noun
1. A sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill.

Why I love this word:
This word, essentially, means a shiver of pleasure. It's that split second of emotional excitement once you hear beautiful news. Before you're able to control your feelings about the matter, your body naturally takes over. Or it doesn't have to be beautiful news. Perhaps you're in a situation that is tension filled, something happens in a split-second and you feel this adrenaline make it's way all through your body causing a shiver within your bones. 

Photograph from Tumblr

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Firgun

Definition: Firgun (pronounced fEr-‘gOn); Hebrew script: פירגון; noun
1. The act of sharing in or even contributing to someone else's pleasure or fortune, with a purely generous heart and without jealousy. 

Why I love this word:
It's difficult to find people whom you can really share your successes with. There are very few people who will actually be happy for you. This word, Is about not only sharing your successes with someone, but actually being the person who helps them get there. Willingly. 

Photograph from Tumblr

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Tausendsassa

Definition: Tausendsassa (pronounced 'tou-zend-sa-sa); German; noun
1. A jack-of-all-trades; a multi-talented person.

Why I love this word:
There are strong arguments whether being a jack-of-all-trades is a good or bad attribute. And personally I think it depends on the field that you are in. Medically speaking, I'd prefer to go to a specialist. However, for creatives, I think this stigma is a bit different. You can choose to be known for only one craft, that's okay. You can choose to be only known for your paintings, or your photography, or your writings. Or you can be known for a little more. You can be great at both writing and photography, at art and design, at performance and technical. You can. 

Photograph from Floral Mountains

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Clinomania

Definition: Clinomania (pronounced klin-oh-MAYN-ee-ah); Greek; noun
1. Excessive desire to stay in bed. 

Why I love this word:
I'm normally an early riser. Like a 5am walk around the city, coffee at 6am, and write while watching the sun rise kind of girl. But more recently, I've had excessive desires to simply stay in bed and not accomplish anything else. Maybe because I'm in a current waiting transition between graduating with my first degree and just waiting until I start a new school. I'm feeling anxious and impatient. I'm just incredibly anxious to get started with my new life--with moving out, and essentially starting all over again--that these months are going by incredibly slow, and I just want to sleep through all of it and wake up to my new life. Is that weird? Or does that even make sense?

Photograph from Treasures and Travels

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Serendipity

Definition: Serendipity (pronounced ser-en-‘dip-i-tE); English; noun
1. Finding something good without looking for it. 

Why I love this word:
I've written a story about this word before. About how a good friend and I had come across an interesting series of events in one night. We both were in a bit of a low place with our emotions and in an attempt to lighten up, we went outside and enjoyed an unplanned adventure. It was beyond what we expected, it was serendipitous. 

For the curious, you may read it here. 

Photograph by Katrina Parker

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Baisemain

Definition: Baisemain (pronounced bez-mAn); French; noun
1. A kiss on the hand.

Why I love this word:
It's innocent, lovely, and gracious. A simple kiss on the hand means the world to me, my favorite is actually when my love kisses the inside of my palm. I feel so warm, loved, and safe. It's one of my favorite places to be kissed. Baisemain. 

Photograph by Katrina Parker

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Merr-Ma

Definition: Merr-ma (pronounced mer-ma); Wagiman (Australia); verb
1. To walk along the water searching for something with your feet. 

Why I love this word:
Nothing else is as soothing as walking along any body of water and allowing your thoughts smooth out with the calmness of the open water.

Photographs by Hideaki Hamada

Word every Gracious Individual should know: Naz

Definition: Naz (pronounced: nosz); noun
1. The pride that comes from knowing that you are loved no matter what you do.

Why I love this word:
For those of you who have people in your life who are sticking with you because they truly know and love who you are as a human being, are incredibly lucky. They are there for you no matter how high you rise, or how hard you fall flat on your face. They aren't with you for a season, or because they need something from you. They don't take advantage of you, they don't diminish your value, and they don't make you feel used or worthless. These people are authentic and loving always. There's great pride in that when you've found those people who really care. They are the only ones that matter. They are the ones who will make you feel like you can conquer the world. 

Photograph by Ida Sofia for The Gracious Lady