Liberosis

Today, I stumbled upon a Tumblr account called “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows”. And it’s amazing. Basically, a writer (and a damned well amazing one at that) compiles words that he creates to try to explain the feelings we have as human beings. I was amazed at the amount of emotions he describes, and his choice of words, and the poetry in his choice of words. Wow. There are some emotions that I never even knew any other person felt. Oh wow.

But before I go off on a whole other tangent, let’s talk about “liberosis”.

Have you ever felt lost in the world? You’re thinking, what am I doing here? What is my purpose here? What am I ever going to achieve in this labyrinth called life? Especially when you see others doing big things? Like the feeling I get when I see my friend who is a DJ and I know his DJing will take him places? (Shout out to you Tee, may what you love doing bring you success). But it’s not jealousy, per se. You’re not envious of the success of others. It’s just wishing you had it all figured out like everyone else around you seems to do. In a way, maybe, you’re measuring yourself based off of other people’s successes.

What you fail to forget is, you are you. There is no one with the same pattern of perfect flaws as you. Or with the exact same thought waves as you do. No one’s blend of mannerisms and personality traits can match yours. And no one can do the things you can do, in the exact same way you can. And what you fail to realize is, maybe you’re the one holding yourself back. Could it be your fear of failure that is causing you to second guess doing what you want to do, what you love to do, what you dream of doing? Could it be your doubts that are clouding your ability to see the amount of potential in you? Maybe?

And there’s a yearning inside of you. I know you have it, because I have it too. Koenig describes it as “the desire to care less about things—to loosen your grip on your life, to stop glancing behind you every few steps, afraid that someone will snatch it from you before you reach the end zone—rather to hold your life loosely and playfully, like a volleyball, keeping it in the air, with only quick fleeting interventions, bouncing freely in the hands of trusted friends, always in play.” You know, you just want to care less about what the world has to say, and care more about you? That’s liberosis.

I like to think that Koenig coined the word from liberty as in freedom, as in spread your wings and fly little birdy. As in do not let the expectations of others worst of all, the expectation of self, stop you from being your best self. As in no matter what they say, their words don’t matter. As in you’re doing what makes you happy. As in you’ve finally unlocked the cage you put your potential in and you’re finally riding the waves of your ability. As in raise your middle finger to the opinion of others and just do you.