Word Play: The Writing of a New Dictionary

The Rocky Mountain Bullhorn, January 13- January 19 2005

Andrea Godshalk

Sometimes in the course of human events it becomes necessary to have a little sit down, take a deep breath. Sometimes in the course of human events it becomes necessary to take a look at the framework in which we think. Sometimes it becomes necessary to actively renegotiate that framework. That time, my friends, is upon us.

Language is the framework in which we think. We are able to think only within the language we have to work with. We can and should be inventing new words to further expand the new thoughts that are needed to outgrow old paradigms we have inherited. I recently had the privilege of being a participant and witness to the birth of some new words. I would like to share them with you, so when we meet in the street you will know what I am talking about.
The first word, “arhythembosis,” is the awareness of that which has yet to be imagined. It is a state of seeing clearly not only our current situation and out interactions within a situation, but also an acknowledgement of that which we are no yet able to see. Arhythembosis is the playful and mindful creation of a space to imagine new ways of being in the world, and acknowledgement of that which has yet to be imagined. The word is necessary to remind us that the ways in which we are currently interacting in the world are not the only ways possible. Arhythembosis is needed to acknowledge all that we are not yet able to see and imagine in the world.

Who could have imagined the Internet forty years ago? But today it is something we take for granted, even though it has dramatically changed the speed and frequency with which we are able to share information and communicate. We live in a society that would have us believe that it is normal to not know where our food is coming from and how it is produced, that it is normal and acceptable that leaders lie to and manipulate us. We live is a society where we are taught that it is normal to have leaders. We are encouraged to hand over our power to decision-makers who, we are told, can represent us. Arhythembosis allows us the space, though we may have not created new notions of “normal,” to acknowledge, welcome and actively participate in the creation of new “norms”.

The second word is for the quiet beat of humanity, the constant base rhythm we have forgotten. It is a word that connects us to ancestors and the collective accumulative knowledge that we carry in our bodies from birth. It is the feeling of looking at a wide-open landscape and feeling connected to something timeless and patient. “Ahumcriohm” is the combination of four ancient roots: a- from which we get awareness, awake, alignment…aha!; hum- from which we get human, humble and humane; cri- from which we get creation, creativity and creature; and ohm- from which we get whole. This word is a feeling we have forgotten and are disconnected from while immersed in the static buzz of capitalism, while rushing forward to deadlines.

At this point in time it seems a good idea to expand out awareness of our connectedness. Our intricate connectedness is ahumcriohm. It is a connection that is there whether or not we acknowledge or are aware of it. It is the deep fact that we are part of a living planet and our actions and intentions affect the planet. This word can be used to relearn that we are not here to conquer, master and manipulate nature; it is a reminder that we are only here because of nature. Ahumcriohm is perhaps the sixth sense we have lost connection with, the sense that makes elephants run to safety in anticipation of tsunamis, an awareness of the deep vibrations of the earth.

The best way I can imagine to magnify our connection to ahumcriohm is turn off our TVs and get on bicycles, sit in silence as the sun goes down and pay attention to the seasons with our hands in the dirt. An awareness of ahumcriohm allows a connection to geologic time, the slow erosion of mountains, the patient carving of canyons. Ahumcriohm brings gentleness to our relationship with time. A reminder that the earth has been breathing long before we came up with an urgent to-do list, and that we, in collective with our ancestors and future generations, will continue to be within that breath, along with the fat squirrels of winter and brave crocuses of a new spring, for a time longer than we can imagine.

As we open the space for new words, we open the space for new thoughts. As that space expands, so do our options about how to do this thing we do, breathe this collective breath. Learn them, use them and then reinvent them.

Andrea, with gratitude, would like to acknowledge her friends Robin and Tahz for co-creating a language space so supple and expansive that new words seem to fall from our mouths.