As I’ve spent more time writing on Substack, I’ve spent more time reading on Substack. One of the authors that I regularly devour is Bill Murphy Jr. who writes Understandably.
A couple of weeks back he wrote a post entitled “19 words and more” in which he shared 19 of the most “perfect” foreign words without an English equivalent. One of his 19 was “hiraeth” which is a Welsh word meaning “A longing or homesickness for a past that never really was”.
Although there’s little hope for my pronunciation, this word certainly packs a punch. What are your thoughts? Have you encountered this feeling before? Do you think we should have an English equivalent?
I think I feel this a lot - whether it’s past friendships or relationships. I think it was something more than they did. And I want to hold onto the idea of what it was in my head, rather than the reality of having to let go of someone who was not great for you. Hard realization to come to!
Yeah, I wonder how much time sweetens things. Nostalgia for something often colors our experience in a specific way. How much is lost gripping that idea of someone/something tighter and tighter?
I definitely resonate with this feeling. The human mind has this ability to create its own reality so far detached from objectivity or the truth of the matter. Imagine longing something that was only as good as you perceived it to be.
I love gracie and I love this idea of "what I never had" reminds me of Queen Beyonce's "Best Thing I Never Had"...the idea that what you remember was not quite the truth of the situation. Thanks Tara for sharing your thoughts :)
I think I feel this a lot - whether it’s past friendships or relationships. I think it was something more than they did. And I want to hold onto the idea of what it was in my head, rather than the reality of having to let go of someone who was not great for you. Hard realization to come to!
Yeah, I wonder how much time sweetens things. Nostalgia for something often colors our experience in a specific way. How much is lost gripping that idea of someone/something tighter and tighter?
I definitely resonate with this feeling. The human mind has this ability to create its own reality so far detached from objectivity or the truth of the matter. Imagine longing something that was only as good as you perceived it to be.
I am loving this blog SO much!
Mandy, I love you! Thank you for being so supportive.
Agree - our human mind and its imagination is SO powerful that sometimes what we think we know is not at all what actually was.
Thank you for sharing your insights!
there's a gracie abrams lyric i LOVE that has a similar sentiment: "some kind of grieving, but over what i never had"
I love gracie and I love this idea of "what I never had" reminds me of Queen Beyonce's "Best Thing I Never Had"...the idea that what you remember was not quite the truth of the situation. Thanks Tara for sharing your thoughts :)