Forlorn < Solaced

FORLORN:  1.  Abandoned; disconsolate; hopeless.  2.  Characterized by sadness or loneliness, especially from being deserted or abandoned.  [see leu- , to forfeit, lose.]  DEPRESSED:  SYNONYMS blue, dejected, despondent, disconsolate, dispirited, downcast, downhearted.  Affected or marked by low spirits:  lonely and blue in a strange city; dejected but trying to look cheerful; disconsolate leader of a besieged town; dispirited worker facing a plant closing; downcast after a defeat.  DISCONSOLATE:  1.  Seeming beyond consolation; extremely dejected.  See Synonyms at depressed.  2.  Cheerless; gloomy.  [Latin dis- + consolatus, to console.]  HOPELESS:  Bleak; comfortless; forlorn.

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COMFORT:  SYNONYMS comforted, consoled, solaced.  Given hope or help in time of grief or pain:  solaced with a hot cup of coffee.  CONSOLED:  Having allayed the sorrow or grief of.  [Latin com- + solari, to comfort.]  See Synonyms at comfort.  HOPEFUL:  1.  Desiring and considering possible.  2.  To look forward with desire and usually with a measure of confidence in the likelihood of gaining what is desired.  CHEERFUL:  1.  Having comfort or encouragement.  2.  Having lightness of spirits or mood; having gaiety or joy.  3.  Being in or characterized by good spirits; merry.  [Old French chiere, face.]  SPIRITED:  Having an attitude marked by enthusiasm, energy or courage.  [Latin spirare, to breathe.]  SOLACED:  Comforted, cheered, or consoled, as in trouble or sorrow.  Allayed or assuaged.  See Synonyms at comfort.  [Latin solari, to console.]

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photo by S. A. Bort, 2 October 2013

definitions from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition &

Roget’s International Thesaurus, Fourth Edition

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Word Therapy

S. A. Bort, 30 September 2013

I’ve opened a page entitled “Word Therapy”  [ https://whenisapartynotaparty.wordpress.com/reflecting-words/ ].  It offers exercises toward reflecting on moods or feelings by using definitions and photographs.

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For example, the other day, I was disturbed by a feeling that I sought to identify.  I settled on the word apprehensive to describe the feeling.  Referencing my dictionary, the definition led me to like-words such as anxious, dreadful and fearful.  I defined those feelings, as well.  The meaning of fearful concluded with “disquieted or ‘apprehensive,’” which had led me in a circle from the initial definition of apprehensive.

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Within that exercise, I located easy, certain, pleasant and quiet (within which I found the additional, soothed)–the completion of another circle, beginning with apprehensive and ending with its opposite, soothed.  The meanings form ripples of feelings or moods that move outward from negative (apprehension) to positive (soothed).  The reader should reflect on the positive as a rational replacement for the negative.

J. M. Bort, 22 December 2013

The photographs evoke a sense of the words.  Above, some of the deer seem apprehensive about edging closer while one doe appears soothed, perhaps still a bit apprehensive, by stepping nearer for a treat from the photographer.  The closeup of the female’s face creates a soothing reaction within the viewer, as well.  The top photograph could portray an illuminated, “angelic” cloud reflecting on the earthly ocean—perhaps the reflection of a spiritual ideal upon the earthly realm of hurt and suffering, with waves moving inward.

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Generally, according to the still-standard, popular book on cognitive behavioral therapy, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, (1980) by David Burns M.D., automatic-thoughts lead, healthily, to rational-responses.  An experience leads to a feeling or mood which ultimately leads to a response—rational or otherwise.  If one, because of an experience, becomes apprehensive, then that person easily could react by filling with anxiety or dread.  The rational response, instead, manifests as reflecting on it and inwardly becoming soothed.

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As a word-lover, these “Word Therapy” blogs act as exercises for me toward that end, but they are devised in a way that can also lead one from negative thought to positive thought.  I will add more blogs to the page as they occur to me.

Exhausted < Resourceful

EXHAUSTED:  1.  Extremely weary; worn out.  2.  Having a resource removed from; depleted.  3.  Used up completely.  [Latin ex + haurire, to draw.]  WEARY:  1.  Physically or mentally tired.  2.  Having one’s interest, forbearance, or indulgence worn out.  3.  Fatigued; Tired.  DEPLETED:  1.  Consumed or reduced to a very low amount; used up.  2.  With contents or important elements removed; emptied out or exhausted.  3.  Extremely tired; worn out or exhausted.  [Latin deplere, deplet, to empty.]

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WELLSPRING:  The source of a stream or spring.  FILLED:  Supplied or provided to the fullest extent.  Engaged or occupied completely.  Fulfilled.  Having an amount needed to make full, complete, or satisfied.  [Old English fyllan; see pela-1, to fill.]  RESOURCEFUL:  1.  Full of something that is available for use or that can be used for support or help.  2.  Having means available to act effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult situations.  [Latin re + surgere, to rise.]

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photo by S. A. Bort, 21 September 2013

definitions from The American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language, Fifth Edition