fourth year sydney kohne

I’ve always loved words. The way they can look, the way we can manipulate them, the way they can move us to happiness or tears.

But one thing I’ve always regretted is that so many of us, myself included, are limited in knowledge to only one language. We’re collectively missing out on a whole world of words and meanings that can give us a new way to look at life.

But my favorite thing about the power of words is that they can embody some of the most beautiful phenomena the world has to offer, wonders that feel like we can’t accurately put into a word. Well, into an English word that is.

In my humble opinion, the best of these foreign words are related to nature. Nature is universal and something we can all appreciate. It might not look the same from where we all are but is always there to mystify us and bring us together. For example, there is komorebi, a Japanese word signifying the sunlight coming through the leaves of trees, or meriggiare, the Italian word for resting in the shade to escape afternoon heat.

But one of my favorites is one that encapsulates everything nature has to offer us. Dadirri, from the aboriginal language of Australia, can be translated as “contemplation, deep inner listening and quiet awareness of creation that allows you to be at peace with yourself, with others and with nature.”

Think of a time when you caught that perfect sunset on the beach and sat in silence, appreciating how the colors mixed in the sky and on the water before the sun finally dipped below the horizon. Or you stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon and had your breath taken away, incredulous that you had the privilege of seeing something so stunning. Or you were doing something as simple as sitting on a park bench under a cloudless sky just basking in the fact that nature really came together to make the perfect day, and all seemed right in the world.

These are the “stop and smell the flowers” moments. They’re the ones that we can’t take for granted and the ones that life so preciously gifted to us.

So go, chase your dadirri moments and hold on to them as tightly as you can––you’ll never regret it.