sophrosyne

I’ve been working on expanding my vocabulary lately. You may have noticed that I explore and introduce different words every Tuesday.

I mean, I’m a writer. So it’s kind of my job. But it’s so easy to get caught up in the ordinary, simple language that we all tend to settle for, rather than exercise our creativity.

As someone who’s spent a lot of time writing business profiles and advertising, I often find my creativity stifled. The KISS rule, or “keep it simple, sweetheart,” is the unfortunate industry standard. Let’s not make it harder than it has to be. But, although ‘dumbing it down’ for your audience might help you reach more people, it doesn’t do much for your ability to paint an unexpected picture with your words.

As someone who’s somewhat starting over in life, I often find myself desiring to be more creative. I’ll always write business profiles. I find it interesting to tell people’s stories. But I don’t want to limit myself to that style of writing for the rest of my career. I’m capable of much more. Being a storyteller means writing business profiles, and feature articles, and fiction, among other things. And I’m enjoying the challenge of mixing all of these things together to create a career I’m truly happy with and find fulfilling.

For today’s edition of Beautiful Words, I chose sophrosyne. It’s a noun. It means: a healthy state of mind, characterized by self-control, moderation, and a deep awareness of one’s true self, and resulting in true happiness.

I’m sure you can see why I chose that. Since I moved back to California, I’ve written more, and read more, and tried to make more of a connection with the things that truly make me happy. So, I thought it was a good word choice for today.

Do you have a fondness for beautiful words?