I’ve pondered on the different meanings and tones that words can take over the years, and after reading a short section of a book describing the flexibility of definitions, I thought I’d do an experiment. I will post different words each weekday (as I can) and include a short paragraph describing how the emotional state the word puts me in. The idea isn’t to deliver the hard and fast definition of a word; it is to do a bit of free association with the word’s environment from one’s perspective. Now, the experiment is for you to do the same. In the comments, just include the word and contribute a paragraph or two about how the word makes you feel.
So in that vein, today's word is
Sojourn
My sojourn is not part of a well laid plan, and is not just a marker on the map of my trip, at least not yet. I have no clue where I'm going next, and I am only staying because I don't know where next I should go. I feel like I'm outside a hut at the edge of a cliff, looking out into a great valley, but the valley is obscured by a rolling fog bank that only occasionally offers tantalizing hints of what is beyond. What next? What next? I wonder if this is a leap of faith, or if that is just a foolish thought. I can't find the path, I can't see where to step next or from where it is best to leap. I don't know what's ahead of me, and it is a bit frightening, a bit distressing. What if I miss my chance? What if I choose wrong? So steeped in uncomfortable uncertainty, I watch and wait, looking for a sign of direction or for some internal gear to click and tell me to take action now. I'm looking for the answers, but there is no clear path ahead of me. So I wait.
Sojourn...
ReplyDeleteBasically when I think of the word I think of the very first time I heard it used, my American history class within the name of Sojourner Truth, the lady who helped (I believe) lead slaves to freedom a la Harriett Tubman. However, I have to check the veracity of this, I doubt you can lead slaves to freedom by traveling alone...
In any case. when I think of sojourn I tend to think of a quest in epic proportions in which the person is very set on their path and they have a very fixed destination albeit a very long ways to go. In a sense the mental picture I get maximezes the parts of the word; "so" - sole, alone, and "journ" - travel.
Pretty much I think of it as a hyperbole, I see a figure with a set objective or destination that he must reach against all odds often bearing a burden alone. His endurance is peak, stamina is at maximum, but the distance is equally challenging and absurd. Thus I think of Frodo Baggins, Maniac McGee, the animals in homeward bound or Call of the Wild,,or the guy from the Hatchet. In the case of the last book, it isnt so much about a destination, but really survival.
Those are my 2 or more cents. I like this concept!