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Interesting photo

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Thank you George.

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Mar 17, 2023Liked by Richard Partridge

I thought you might find this word and description of it “a soulful one” with its origins in Russia:

Toska

"No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”

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Intereting. I was unaware of 'Toska' thank you for bringing it to my attention.

I am very taken by the Japanese idiom 'Mono no aware' :

"Mono no aware (物の哀れ),[a] lit. 'the pathos of things', and also translated as 'an empathy toward things', or 'a sensitivity to ephemera', is a Japanese idiom for the awareness of impermanence (無常, mujō), or transience of things, and both a transient gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing as well as a longer, deeper gentle sadness about this state being the reality of life."

And it is this sense that I feel when I view Ando's ( amongst many other's ) work ...

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Mar 18, 2023Liked by Richard Partridge

Thank you for educating me about the descriptive Japanese idiom, “Mono no aware!”

Who knew how other languages could capture our hearts so completely??? Proof that we aren’t so different after all! :)

So, I have another amazing word for you:

Hiraeth~

“A homesickness to a home which you cannot return;

A home which maybe never was;

The yearning;

The grief for the lost places of your past;

The sadness of what will never be.”

(Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no English translation, but in my humble opinion, the description of the words themselves can be easily understood by anyone who has lost a loved one. Though the person can never be replaced by time or space, their essence is forever etched into the deepest layers of our skin and like a permanent tattoo, the stark reality of our great loss is there, plain for all who wish to see.)

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Mar 17, 2023Liked by Richard Partridge

Ah ha! It was all right there, the dance you summon within the words you chose to describe a beautiful moment in time! I’m learning, your incredible use of the English language is what is fascinating and captures your reader’s attention and imagination, pointing us to our own dreams, desires, wishes and thoughts. Tadao Andō, with his own complicated successful life, much like you, continues to provide inspiration for all who need it. :)

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