Nementia
The post-distraction effort to recall the reason why you’re feeling particularly anxious or angry or excited, in which…
Lalalalia
The realization while talking to yourself that someone else is within earshot, which leads you to crossfade into…
Apomakrysmenophobia
The fear that your connections with people are ultimately shallow, that although your relationships feel congenial at the…
Flashover
The moment a conversation becomes real and alive, which occurs when a spark of trust shorts out the…
Ecstatic Shock
The surge of energy upon catching a glance from someone you like—a thrill that starts in your stomach,…
Ballagàrraidh
The awareness that you are not at home in the wilderness. The story of humanity is a move…
La gaudière
The glint of goodness inside people, which you can only find by sloshing them back and forth in…
Hiybbprqag
The feeling that everything original has already been done, that the experiment of human culture long ago filled…
Aimonomia
Fear that learning the name of something—a bird, a constellation, an attractive stranger—will somehow ruin it, transforming a…
Altschmerz
The weariness with same old issues that you’ve always had—the same boring flaws and anxieties you’ve been gnawing…
Chrysalism
The amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm, listening to waves of rain pattering against the roof…
Catoptric Tristesse
The sadness that you’ll never really know what other people think of you, whether good, bad or if…
Alazia
The fear that you’re no longer able to change. After so many years wondering what kind of person…
Koinophobia
The Fear that You’ve Lived an Ordinary Life. While you’re in it, life seems epic. Fiery, tenuous, and…