Word of the Day: Otiose
Otiose (adjective): (1) being at leisure or ease (idle, unemployed); (2) without profit (sterile, futile); (3) lacking use or effect (4) of a deity: remote and aloof; not concerned with the details of the world
USING OTIOSE IN SENTENCES
Changing my cat’s behavior so that he won’t bite my ankles is an otiose endeavor.
My otiose days lounging on the front porch without a job have been surprisingly relaxing, despite the fact that I have no money.
The otiose Babylonian god, Marduk, cared very little what happened in the ancient world.
Poem of the Day
SELF-UNCONSCIOUS
by Thomas Hardy
Along the way
He walked that day,
Watching shapes that reveries limn,
And seldom he
Had eyes to see
The moment that encompassed him.
Bright yellowhammers
Made mirthful clamours,
And billed long straws with a bustling air,
And bearing their load
Flew up the road
That he followed, alone, without interest there.
From bank to ground
And over and round
They sidled along the adjoining hedge;
Sometimes to the gutter
Their yellow flutter
Would dip from the nearest slatestone ledge.
The smooth sea-line
With a metal shine,
And flashes of white, and a sail thereon,
He would also descry
With a half-wrapt eye
Between the projects he mused upon.
Yes, round him were these
Earth’s artistries,
But specious plans that came to his call
Did most engage
His pilgrimage,
While himself he did not see at all.
Dead now as sherds
Are the yellow birds,
And all that mattered has passed away;
Yet God, the Elf,
Now shows him that self
As he was, and should have been shown, that day.
O it would have been good
Could he then have stood
At a focussed distance, and conned the whole,
But now such vision
Is mere derision,
Nor soothes his body nor saves his soul.
Not much, some may
Incline to say,
To see therein, had it all been seen.
Nay! he is aware
A thing was there
That loomed with an immortal mien.
Thought of the Day
Our attention can either be projected outward, toward the world, or inward, toward our own psyche–toward our inner world–our thoughts, emotions, memories, and imagination. This poem reminds me of people who take walks with earbuds in their ears, likely listening to podcasts, or the day’s news, or something similar, so enrapt in whatever it is to which they listen, that they do not engage in the world flowing around them and in which they move.
I don’t suggest we shouldn’t engage our time fully. It is amazing that we can listen and learn about nearly anything that interests us through modern technology, while we walk, drive, wash our clothes, etc. But we should also learn to listen to the world, and to let it flow through us … that is another kind of learning–a learning for the soul.
If I walk upon a well-worn path, with the intention of quieting my mind, and watching the world, I see things in it I haven’t seen before, even though I may have walked the same path a hundred times before.
It may be worthwhile to consider Hardy’s poem. Perhaps, we will look back with regret one day that we didn’t spend more time discovering the world’s beauty teeming all around us, if we would have just stilled ourselves for a time to watch and listen.
30 Blog Posts in 30 Days
My goal is to write thirty blog posts in thirty days. Each post will consist of a Word of the Day, a poem from a famous poet (public domain only), and either a thought or a verse (or two) from yours truly.
First Post: October 11th, 2019
Last Post: November 9th, 2019
Wish me luck!
Every month or so, I’ll send a newsletter via e-mail to my subscribers. More often than not, it will contain a list of my new blog posts. You may find something in it that interests you! Or more likely, you’ll be bored to tears and curse my very existence. In either case, you should sign up. You may unsubscribe at any time!