Word(s)

Mizz Holly had a nifty challenge on her blog and since I'm tired and out of sorts and love playing with words slightly more than I love playing with fire, I asked if I could have a go. She sent me these five words:

Loss
Presence
Evaporate
Highfalutin
Ritual

I am to define them in my own way, in a fashion that shows a little more of who I am to you. I am also to invite you to play along - if you'd like five words of your own, let me know in the comments please, and I'll hand pick five words at the peak of their ripeness and send them along to you post-haste.

Loss - oh, I know this one bone-deep. I've lost books, lost keys, lost money, lost games...but those losses weren't that telling. No...it's the innocence, faith, and trust that I've lost along my way that hurt the deepest and are the hardest to replace. What is loss, really? And is it irrevocable? Of all the things I've lost, I miss my sanity the most...who said that? Can you lose what you never had to begin with? Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by a sense of having lost something indefinable but missing nonetheless. Despite my other losses...I have never lost hope. Misplaced it sometimes, but never lost. Loss - what one once had but now does not due to mishap, misadventure, miscalculation...partners beautifully with "found".

Presence - sometimes I feel a presence in my soul...and I call her Goddess. Sometimes I meet or read someone and they have such a sense of presence, of being, that I am in awe. I tried to tell my now-ex-husband that he needed to be present, be here, in our marriage...but he didn't listen, didn't hear until it was too late and I was gone. Some people are not present in their own lives, and so they know loss. See above for that one. The only moment in which one may be present is this moment.

Evaporate - what usually happens to my self-confidence when I'm meeting new people.

Highfalutin - is that really a word?? I thought it was a Southernism! I've never had occasion to use it, preferring to say "cha-cha" or "pinkie up, darling". To me, it's a word denoting a negative sense of society, a putting on of airs...and makes me think of my grandmother and her ideas about society. I don't know anyone highfalutin any more...thank goodness.

Ritual - now here's a word rich with meaning, with depth, with more layers than a mille-stratta! There are homey little rituals like doing dishes or laundry...and there are the rituals that help calm us, like breathing deeply or watching a river flow past...and the rituals that help us focus on our inner selves and our gods, like lighting candles and incense or balefires and drumming. I love Ritual, love performing the motions, the spiritual dance...whether it's one I've made up on the spot or one that's based on centuries-old practices. Alone or in groups, it brings a sense of connection to the Presence, to everything and everyone around me...and that's all to the good, I think...especially when one has a tendency to be/feel isolated.

So there are the five Mizz Holly sent me...now, are you game??