Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Grayshift

n.
the tendency for future goals and benchmarks to feel huge when viewed in advance, only to fade into banality as soon as you’ve achieved them—finally reaching the top of the ladder, only to notice it circling back around like a hamster wheel.

A variation on redshift and blueshift, the astronomical processes that make objects moving away look redder than they really are, and objects moving toward you look bluer.

Immerensis

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

Anderance

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

Mottleheaded

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

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Cullaways

a lone sand castle on a beach at low tide

Emodox

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