Clockwise

a close-up of flower along with polaroid pictures

Clockwise

adj.
aware that you’ll only ever be a certain age relative to your loved ones, only seeing them from one arbitrary angle across the decades— never knowing your mother in her rebellious youth, never seeing your grandkid as anything other than a kid—because even though your life spans do happen to overlap, they’ll never quite line up.

From clock + wise, pointedly aware of.

Etherness

Cover image for the Etherness word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside

Symptomania

Cover image for the Symptomania word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Dead Reckoning

Cover image for the Dead Reckoning word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows