Language is part of what makes us…human. Language defines, creates, and expresses through words what it is to be human. The language we speak not only tells us where we’re from, it also shows us how we interpret our worldview. Charlemagne famously once said that “To know another language is to have another soul.” Each language lets you understand what being human is in its own way. I grew up speaking English – my thoughts, my foundation, and how I view the world, was built up with English words. Studying new languages exposed me to new ways of understanding the human experience. Perhaps I’m romanticing these words, maybe they don’t hold the same value to the speaker as the listener, but ultimately, by learning these words has led me to further understanding of what it means to be human. Let me share a few:
On birth: The human experience all begins with birth. And when a mother gives birth in Spanish, the phrase is to dar luz, or to bring to light. You, me, and all living things- we are light – and all we meant to shine.
On letting go: In Portuguese, you don’t let things go. You leave it over there. Deixa pra lá! Which, to me, is more empowering to the person doing the action. Sure, you can let something go, but that doesn’t mean it will go. Stray cats always return if they know they’ll be fed. If you leave “it”, (sadness, the toxic relationship, the mundane worries of life) over there, it creates separation. You’ve moved onward, and whatever you’re letting go is, over.
On the joy of living: Certain people exude such a brilliance, a buoyancy, a joy for living, a joie de vivre, that is contagious. The people who know how to truly live. The ones that leave you feeling light, and good, and so consumed with the present moment, the ones that inspire you to be the best version of you; the ones who carry that joie de vivre those people remind us that life is just that- there’s so much joy to be had from living.
On the love that remains: Saudade, a word that was first used when the Portuguese left to sail the world. Anthony De Sa defines the word so beautifully- “a longing for something so indefinite as to be indefinable. Love affairs, miseries of life, the way things were, people already dead, those who left and the ocean that tossed them on the shores of a different land — all things born of the soul that can only be felt.” Saudade reminds us that while some things may never be the same, they never truly have left, and that by visiting the past, we can be comforted in the present.
On remembering death: You are dying. Maybe you’re not dying at an accelerated rate, or due to a disease or violence, but you are still dying nevertheless. Our mortality is bound to our bodies. Memento Mori– remember you have to die is the phrase in Latin. Are you living knowing that the only thing that is guaranteed is death? If you are to become dust anyways, how big do your fears or how less do your hesitations become?
On becoming: Our habits, what we do, each little paso, or step takes us on what we are becoming; and Spanish says this so beautifully- to become is the arrival of being- llegar a ser. And each time I hear this, I wonder, who am I becoming? Who am I letting influence my way? What habits am I actively practicing to lead me to what I’m arriving to? Will they get me to what I want to llegar a ser? And you? When you you finally get there, wherever that may be, when you arrive, what is it you want to be and have done?
I wasn’t sure how to end this, because I could keep going- how in Spanish hoping and waiting are the same word, or how age isn’t something you are it’s something you have, but you get the idea. What words and phrases have you learned that helped you understand yourself, others, or life in a deeper way?
Until next time,
Ross