Uncommon, Fantastical Words

Hiraeth- longing for nostalgia, an earnest longing or desire, or a sense of regret. The feeling of longing for a home that no longer exists or never was. A deep and irrational bond felt with a time, era, place or person.

Opia- This is the name given to the intense feeling of invasive arousal that one feels when engaging in mutual gaze—making direct eye contact with someone else. A great deal of research has been done on eye contact and it is well established that eye contact can be arousing. The arousal is often interpreted based on the circumstances. If the person is perceived as a threat, it is unpleasant. If two people are attracted to each other, it is pleasant and titillating. The ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable.

Kenopsia- The forlorn atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people but is now abandoned.

Petrichor- a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period

Ambedo-A kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details—raindrops skittering down a window, tall trees leaning in the wind, clouds of cream swirling in your coffee—briefly soaking in the experience of being alive, an act that is done purely for its own sake

Elysian-blissful, delightful, peace

Jouska- A hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head—a crisp analysis, a cathartic dialogue, a devastating comeback—which serves as a kind of psychological batting cage where you can connect more deeply with people than in the small ball of everyday life, which is a frustratingly cautious game of change-up pitches, sacrifice bunts, and intentional walks.

Onism- that sudden dreadful realization that you are you, and only you, and stuck in your body and you're not omniscient (can’t know everything) and the universe is filled with other people just like that but you still can't live their lives and they can't live yours.