Untranslatable

A few of my 99+ open tabs are about Japanese words. I love stumbling across words like this that don’t translate exactly.

Komorebi – The Chicago Botanic Garden describes komorebi (木漏れ日) as “The dapples of light and leaf []This effect is especially notable at dawn or just before dusk, when one can observe a cascade of shimmering amber light. While the sight is familiar and nostalgic, there is no English word for this phenomenon.” Every time I notice this, I almost always feel a calmness come over me.

Ma (間) – I first encountered ma as a design concept of negative space but it’s so much more. Cultures of Japan describes it as referring to: ”physical space, but also to time, relational, and spiritual distances. Furthermore, it can refer to visible or auditory gaps, or the intangible ‘interval’ between one event and another. This concept underscores the idea in both Japanese aesthetics and philosophy of life that things are always in relation to one another.”

Tsundoku (積ん読) – letting books pile up that you might not read. I’ve also heard of this as cultivating a “wine cellar” of books, so when the right mood strikes, you pick one that you’ve stored.

All of these words together feel like they describe me in a way. I guess that’s why I saved them.