Hi all,
The fourth and final quarterfinal of the tournament....as always, please refer to Monday's post if you are not sure about what is going on here.
No post ready for Tuesday so we'll be back next Friday, sometime between 11am and noon EST, where I'll write a bit about my favorite book.
Tim
***************************************************
*tima / Icelandic (1) verb
Not being ready to spend time or money on a specific thing, despite being able to afford it
*komorebi /Japanese noun
The sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees
Breakdown (2)
What is 'tima' all about? It implies, by linking spending to 'readiness', that perhaps citizens owe their communities the investment of their time and money. It defines spending money and committing time as functions of 'affordability', reducing the role of the individual in these decisions.
It is a big word, in some ways (*). One way to read 'tima' is to see a word that elevates personally considered decisions into ones that deal with matters of a larger group. From that point of view, 'tima' is a reflection of how interconnected the results of our decision making are, of how our spending and attention decisions rarely take place in isolation.
Perhaps this is a positive light in which to cast the word. Time and money spent on others is considered by many time and money well spent. Even if the impact is indirect, the knowledge that your actions make a difference to someone might make us better decision makers.
What drives someone who is described as 'tima'? It points at a contemplative person, perhaps the sort who is careful or cautious about making commitments. But it might indicate scars, too, or maybe just fresh wounds, from recent experiences where the affordability-readiness balance was not properly considered.
Experience is considered a valuable thing, almost by default. But I suppose only when we draw from experience do we confirm its lasting value.
I recently read a definition of immaturity which I really liked. In Consolations, David Whyte writes that immaturity means false choices, those that live only in the past, present, or future, but never all three. Maturity, he continues, means not compromising. It requires inhabiting past, present, and future with courage.
The challenge of maturity is to learn from the past, to live in the present, and to consider the future, all at once. It is a formidable challenge, not one we meet at any particular moment, but one that we approach as a lifelong journey during which our experiences accumulate into wisdom.
'Tima', ultimately, seems to speak to the effort to leave behind the immaturity that holds us back on this journey. It is the self that once caved into peer pressure on the playground. It is each time we finally gave in to restrained impulses. It lingers with us in the form of doubt, constantly questioning the path our uninformed decisions set us on.
Just when we leave it behind, it returns, insisting on trying something different for the hope that something might be better. The alternatives presented are merely possibilities, those that do not account for who we were, are, or hope to be. It is an external pressure that is resistible only by understanding all the components of our individuality.
'Komorebi', unlike 'tima', is simple. There are no implications to read into the word on an individual or societal level. It does not grapple with difficult questions, such as how to use the present to reconcile our regrets with our hopes.
It only asks for us to witness and acknowledge.
But, these are big requests.
What ultimately separates the two words is in how we feel the calling of each word. 'Tima' comes from around us, creating a sense of urgency that ignores our individuality and focuses instead on how we fit the expectations of others. 'Komorebi' comes from within, imploring that we fully occupy the space we are in to find beauty and meaning in what happens around us.
These are both terrific words. I think if you have no opinion regarding the idea of sunlight filtering through leaves, you would send 'tima' through to the next round.
I do have an opinion. I find the sunlight that filters through the tree cover thrilling.
'Tima' goes home today.
Semifinal- All Japan edition!- 'wabi-sabi' --vs-- 'komorebi'
Footnotes...
1. 'Iceland is really nice' tangent
During the recent financial crisis, Iceland was among many countries who got caught up in the 'affordability' of cheap loans and easy money without adequately considering their readiness for some of those purchases. I'm curious how this experience changed the way this word is viewed in that country.
On the other hand, it might not have changed at all. There is also the possibility that this word is barely relevant to the average Icelandic speaker.
It's not like I knew all the Japanese words in the book, after all. In fact, prior to reading this book, I knew none.
There is a very good possibility that some of these words are like the 'A' branch of the green line- we conceptually understand the possibility that it used to exist, but we have different ways of getting to the point now (*) and no one I know is in any hurry to bring it back into common usage.
2. So, another scheduling adjustment...tangent
In round one, I commented that 'komorebi' was involved in my toughest decision when it went up against 'shlimazel'. In this quarterfinal round, 'komorebi' once again got involved in another difficult deliberation.
In fact, this matchup took a lot longer to sort out than any other quarterfinal. Things were moving so slowly here that I re-arranged the entire quarterfinal schedule to maximize the amount of time I had to sort this pairing out.
I suppose this suggests that this was a tough decision (and for awhile it appeared headed that way) but it is more accurate to say that what I needed to do was sort out exactly what 'tima' meant. Once I did so, I found the decision a lot simpler to make.
The fourth and final quarterfinal of the tournament....as always, please refer to Monday's post if you are not sure about what is going on here.
No post ready for Tuesday so we'll be back next Friday, sometime between 11am and noon EST, where I'll write a bit about my favorite book.
Tim
***************************************************
*tima / Icelandic (1) verb
Not being ready to spend time or money on a specific thing, despite being able to afford it
*komorebi /Japanese noun
The sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees
Breakdown (2)
What is 'tima' all about? It implies, by linking spending to 'readiness', that perhaps citizens owe their communities the investment of their time and money. It defines spending money and committing time as functions of 'affordability', reducing the role of the individual in these decisions.
It is a big word, in some ways (*). One way to read 'tima' is to see a word that elevates personally considered decisions into ones that deal with matters of a larger group. From that point of view, 'tima' is a reflection of how interconnected the results of our decision making are, of how our spending and attention decisions rarely take place in isolation.
*Not in terms of length, though. In terms of length, I believe it is the shortest word in the tournament.To make these decisions properly, we must consider not just our own needs and tastes but those of others. We must live with the knowledge that what we choose to do, or not do, represents opportunities gained or lost for someone else.
Perhaps this is a positive light in which to cast the word. Time and money spent on others is considered by many time and money well spent. Even if the impact is indirect, the knowledge that your actions make a difference to someone might make us better decision makers.
What drives someone who is described as 'tima'? It points at a contemplative person, perhaps the sort who is careful or cautious about making commitments. But it might indicate scars, too, or maybe just fresh wounds, from recent experiences where the affordability-readiness balance was not properly considered.
Experience is considered a valuable thing, almost by default. But I suppose only when we draw from experience do we confirm its lasting value.
I recently read a definition of immaturity which I really liked. In Consolations, David Whyte writes that immaturity means false choices, those that live only in the past, present, or future, but never all three. Maturity, he continues, means not compromising. It requires inhabiting past, present, and future with courage.
The challenge of maturity is to learn from the past, to live in the present, and to consider the future, all at once. It is a formidable challenge, not one we meet at any particular moment, but one that we approach as a lifelong journey during which our experiences accumulate into wisdom.
'Tima', ultimately, seems to speak to the effort to leave behind the immaturity that holds us back on this journey. It is the self that once caved into peer pressure on the playground. It is each time we finally gave in to restrained impulses. It lingers with us in the form of doubt, constantly questioning the path our uninformed decisions set us on.
Just when we leave it behind, it returns, insisting on trying something different for the hope that something might be better. The alternatives presented are merely possibilities, those that do not account for who we were, are, or hope to be. It is an external pressure that is resistible only by understanding all the components of our individuality.
'Komorebi', unlike 'tima', is simple. There are no implications to read into the word on an individual or societal level. It does not grapple with difficult questions, such as how to use the present to reconcile our regrets with our hopes.
It only asks for us to witness and acknowledge.
But, these are big requests.
What ultimately separates the two words is in how we feel the calling of each word. 'Tima' comes from around us, creating a sense of urgency that ignores our individuality and focuses instead on how we fit the expectations of others. 'Komorebi' comes from within, imploring that we fully occupy the space we are in to find beauty and meaning in what happens around us.
These are both terrific words. I think if you have no opinion regarding the idea of sunlight filtering through leaves, you would send 'tima' through to the next round.
I do have an opinion. I find the sunlight that filters through the tree cover thrilling.
'Tima' goes home today.
Semifinal- All Japan edition!- 'wabi-sabi' --vs-- 'komorebi'
Footnotes...
1. 'Iceland is really nice' tangent
During the recent financial crisis, Iceland was among many countries who got caught up in the 'affordability' of cheap loans and easy money without adequately considering their readiness for some of those purchases. I'm curious how this experience changed the way this word is viewed in that country.
On the other hand, it might not have changed at all. There is also the possibility that this word is barely relevant to the average Icelandic speaker.
It's not like I knew all the Japanese words in the book, after all. In fact, prior to reading this book, I knew none.
There is a very good possibility that some of these words are like the 'A' branch of the green line- we conceptually understand the possibility that it used to exist, but we have different ways of getting to the point now (*) and no one I know is in any hurry to bring it back into common usage.
*Watertown, so bus, car, bike...
2. So, another scheduling adjustment...tangent
In round one, I commented that 'komorebi' was involved in my toughest decision when it went up against 'shlimazel'. In this quarterfinal round, 'komorebi' once again got involved in another difficult deliberation.
In fact, this matchup took a lot longer to sort out than any other quarterfinal. Things were moving so slowly here that I re-arranged the entire quarterfinal schedule to maximize the amount of time I had to sort this pairing out.
I suppose this suggests that this was a tough decision (and for awhile it appeared headed that way) but it is more accurate to say that what I needed to do was sort out exactly what 'tima' meant. Once I did so, I found the decision a lot simpler to make.
