Hiraeth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hiraeth, pronounced [hɨraɪ̯θ], is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation. The University of Wales, Lampeter attempts to define it as homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed. It is a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness, or an earnest desire^[1] for the Wales of the past.^[2]

Oxford and Merriam Webster define Hiraeth as: (noun) "a homesickness for a home you cannot return to, or that never was".

I met this word today. I remember reading in a book, about the emotional life of cats, the author questioning if, about caged felines, even if born in captivity could they long for something they never knew: freedom. I remember thinking about it, of course they can. But more, I thought about a desire for something I never knew, I too miss something I can't name. I know it becomes calmer by the sea and when the people I love are close and happy. I don't know if it a place that one day I'll visit or if it a spiritual and emotional state. But when I read this word today I felt it. Hiraeth. 

In Portuguese we have the word Saudade. I've read that Hiraeth and Saudade have probably the same definition. But for me Saudade, which I can't translate to English, is feeling what you feel when you are sad about the past being past. Hiraeth I would say, could be also about something you miss but that moves you to the future, to the place, that you may not know but you'll know it is what you were looking for when you find it.

Hiraeth.

But in truth, I've found what calms down my Hiraeth so many times in my life. Because, maybe, just maybe, for some of us, happiness is hidden in million of places and thousands of faces. Beginning with our family smiles. And even when they are gone, we carry their smiles with us and we find their smiles in everything that makes us happy.

I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME (i CARRY IT IN MY HEART)

E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)