Velleity

[osprey_archer]

A velleity is a mild desire—not a whim, which passes and in any case is often strong enough to lead to action, but a constant vague wish too weak to be acted upon.

I have no idea why this word is not in wider use, because I at least spend my life swimming in a sea of velleities. I have a velleity to start drawing again, to study French, to learn how to ice skate backwards and to dance.

…Then again, there’s something depressing about focusing on things I lack the willpower, time, and/or physical grace to do. Perhaps the word should be left to lie.

Comments

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful word.

I think most people's lives are filled with unfulfilled velleities - I know mine is. I wonder if that's why lists of "things to do before you're 30" or "places to visit before you die" are popular. It's that focus to do things that have crossed your mind but,as yet, haven't come to anything.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yes. The lists put order to the chaos, although (at least for me) there's something daunting about trying to fulfill a list. What if I get hit by a bus at place 29? Wouldn't that be depressing?

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

I really don't like all those lists - there always seems to be the implication that if you haven't, I don't know, swum with dolphins, you are a lesser human being. And that living is about ticking off the list.

But "velleity" is still a beautiful word.

[chaletian.livejournal.com]

Ooh, an interesting word. But, as you say, a tiny bit depressing!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Sad but true. :)

[exuberantself.livejournal.com]

I want to drop everything and tour the country with nothing but my computer and my Jeep. No map, no plan, just enough money to keep myself in gas and from starving (and maybe showered). I'd never actually do it i'manadult, but I've spent years considering it.

Also, I looked up the root of velleity (velle, Latin, to wish) and one of the definitions is "a mere wish," and the phrasing offends me in an abstract sort of way.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yes! Roadtrip! I might take a map with me ( I <3 maps; half the fun for me is getting out the map and looking at every possible route to every possible place) but otherwise I'd like to do much the same thing.

Actually, I worry my friends, because every few months they'll get long, rambling letters about how great it would be to leave everything behind and just go for a roadtrip. They're probably all relieved I don't have a car.

And yes - a "mere wish" is an annoying phrasing. It's like "just friends" - as if friendship wasn't an important thing in itself.

[exuberantself.livejournal.com]

Exactly! ...I just suck at maps. I have a expression that gets used with more frequency than my passengers are entirely comfortable with: "It's okay, I've been lost here before."