My dear wilder readers,
On account of my washing machine flooding my downstairs laundry room and bathroom, I’ve decided to share a new mini-series called “Wilder Words Reborn”.
Lost Word: FIE
Fie
Interjection | fahy | Thirteenth century. Middle English.
An expression of outrage, fury, or repulsion.
“Fie upon you!” she shouted at the broke dick washing machine that flooded her laundry room and bathroom.
So, yeah, being a responsible adult is not at the top of my ten most fun life to-dos.
Adulting, in general, the entire shape of this odd beast that dictates our lives even when we would much rather bask in the warm sun, sprawled out on a lawn chair, with a glass of cool lemonade by our side, though we’d never admit it out loud. Instead, as we grow older, we learn to adapt, choosing to bring this beast closer inside of ourselves, to first acknowledge it, then later accept it, and it appears in the shape of our many, many, many…never ending bills: electric/internet/water/heat/pet food/car mx/Ffff $5+ gas refills/groceries that cost 2x as much as they did 6 years ago (2020 really WAS six year ago…! where did the time go? oh, yeah, adulting).
And for those of us moms (to a 10 yr old son and 2 fluffy kitties), we need to remember the hair cut for picture day, wool socks for fall-winter, healthy food with a balance of tasty snacks so your kid doesn’t complain about you in therapy 15 years down the road that mommy never let me have snacks (fml really), well-fed and well-groomed, that you raise them to be kind, caring, thoughtful, functioning, adaptable, courageous, strong, confident, proud, etm.
But, to me, the one thing that doesn’t ever ever seem like a chore, is making sure my son never loses his ability to dream. To daydream, fantasize, imagine. Because that’s one thing they don’t tell you when you’re growing up, is that adulting, this angry awful beast (that eventually calms down as you get a handle on life), often makes us loose our ability to think and to dream for ourselves.
Trust me. Nobody is going to do it for you. So, if you took anything out of this week’s “Wilder Words Reborn”, don’t forget to dream. You owe it to yourself.
xoxo
Ozanna Wilder
(p.s. how long do you think it’ll take to fix this damn washer? Fie upon thee, indeed.)
Gillard, J. (2019). The little book of lost words: Collywobbles, snollygosters, and 86 other surprisingly useful terms worth resurrecting. Ten Speed Press.