Nullness

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

Nullness

n.
a state of instinctive restlessness that arises when your society makes too many choices on your behalf—foreclosing all risks, codifying all moral dilemmas, deciding in advance whether you’ll succeed or fail—as if your conscience had been outsourced to an external provider, so it’s no longer necessary to have one on site.

From null, an empty set of values.

La Cuna

Cover image for the La Cuna word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair

Present-Tense

a close-up of a stopwatch

Fitzcarraldo

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

The Standard Blues

Cover image for the The Standard Blues word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized