I live in Colorado which has the most amazing weather patterns of pretty much anywhere on the planet. Yesterday, it was 69° outside. I went for a pleasant walk. Today I woke up, and it was 15° and the ground was completely covered with a white blanket of snow.
There is not a single word in the English language that can describe what I felt when I woke up. I didn’t even have to look out the window. The feeling is universal though. In Japan, they call this feeling mugen. It is a sense of awe and wonder that one feels when contemplating change. It’s not exactly nostalgia, but it is similar, like when you remember something pleasant from the past. Nostalgia is the feeling you get when you try to hold onto those memories and relive them over and over. Mugen is the feeling you feel when one of those feelings arises spontaneously. You enjoy it for a moment, then you let it go.
The English language is full of ambiguities. Shakespeare knew this very well. He exploited every single one. What sorts of things are universal? Star crossed lovers? I imagine it happens all the time. And what is love like? It’s a midsummer night’s dream.
-Baker Beltz
