Insoucism

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

Insoucism

n.
the inability to decide how much sympathy your situation really deserves, knowing that so many people have it far worse and others far better, that some people would need years of therapy to overcome what you have, while others would barely think to mention it in their diary that day.

French soucis, worries + insouciance, indifference. Who knows what an ordinary person should be expected to handle? Perhaps human life is so tough that we all deserve some sympathy. Or perhaps it’s such a privilege to be alive at all that none of us has the right to complain. Pronounced “in-soo-siz-uhm.”

Lap Year

several people racing bicycles uphill in a forest

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Drisson

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

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

The Whipgraft Delusion

Cover image for the The Whipgraft Delusion word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Craxis

a tall house of cards