Word Nerd: Occhiolism

Occhiolism is the awareness of the smallness of your perspective in the grandness of the vast scope of the Universe. Occhiolism is from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows and it’s full definition reads as “the awareness of the smallness of your perspective, by which you couldn’t possibly draw any meaningful conclusions at all, about the world or the past or the complexities of culture, because although your life is an epic and unrepeatable anecdote, it still only has a sample size of one, and may end up being the control for a much wilder experiment happening in the next room.“.

Occhiolism may be considered a sorrowful, almost melancholy feeling of insignificance brought about by the realization of one’s smallness in the grander scheme of life within the scope of time, but there is also a bit of soft, gentle peace in the idea that while one’s existence and perspective may be tiny and singular, it is still uniquely your own. I find comfort in knowing that other’s may feel the same way and that there can be a word to aid in describing what it is I may be experiencing.  Occhiolism is one of those words, since when I gaze up into the vast night sky I sometimes have a sense of my own smallness and how limited my earthy life can be, all while feeling the glory in the endless expanse that lays all around me.

So diminutive in this vast view/ lay my thoughts/ and feelings too./ How many cycles, eons, ages/ lay upon the Universal stages?/ How many before and yet to come?/ How many time-lines future and done?/One soul am I/ so slight and unsure/ Full of so much/ so little, so spare./ I belong here, right now so defined./ My perspective may be small, but it’s still significantly mine… ~ Ella

Occhiolism joins other words I’ve shared from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows such as Sonder and Vellichor and I have to say that even if they are “made-up” words, the more they are used the more “real” they become. I mean all words were “made-up” at one time or other and why would that ever stop?! On that note, have you ever experienced occhiolism?

Namaste ~ Ella

*Check out the Word Nerd Index and my Word Nerd Pinterest Board for other superb words!

** If there’s a word you’d like to see added to the Word Nerd roster, please feel free to contact me or suggest it in the comments – I love feedback and recommendations!

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