Awe: n. Probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin; developed from earlier age (about 1250, in The Story of Genesis and Exodus) ...
The Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, a text explaining the origins and development of English words, traces the use of the word awe back to when it meant fear and terror.
"Awesome" didn't come into use until 1598 and just over 400 years later it is an ubiquitous expression for amazing, fabulous, fantastic, incredible, OMG!, sick, trippy...
Alien ghetto in South Africa - District 9. Awesome!
Susan Boyle getting up despite derision and sneers to sing. Awesome!
The whole world quests for the unknown, for the new, for the "never-before seen", for the unimaginable, elusive, invisible, beautiful secret "thing". Why is it invisible?
If we find it what's the first thing we'd do?
"AWESOME!" We need to shout it from the rooftops.
It's not ours. We are making it into something else.
The ugly truth about wanting to "share" the "awesome" is that most of the time the only concern is about "keeping up appearances".
We must make ourselves appear to be interesting.
Gossipers know what I'm talking about - this is the "awesome" thing about gossipers.
They're a breed that's been on Earth since the year dot - spreading their "awesomeness".
Gossipers steamroll every little juicy morsel of awesomeness out of every elusive, invisible, beautiful thing their little brains can fathom.
Same beast today as at the height of the Roman Empire - read Homer, read Shakespeare, see Pulp Fiction, see UP!
They gossip to make themselves feel important.
Certain brain cells wither and die - did you know that the human brain has a finite capacity?
So what you see as awesome depends upon what you spend your life focusing on.
Brain cells are invisible, no one pays them any mind.
But they exist.
No don't crack your skull open, take my word for it.
And if you use them perhaps you too might happen upon on something elusive, tantalizing just out of reach "thing".
Will you keep it to yourself?
Like a child enjoying a stolen chocolate.
Like buying that pair of shoes without telling your husband.
Like sleeping with your soul mate, who's not you spouse.
Like stealing out during work hours for a surf.
We are exploiters, plunderers! Poseurs! Fakes all looking for the genuine article.
I think that's ok - if we're genuinely honest about it with ourselves.
But we're not.
Take individuality.
You don't EVER want to be SEEN to be outside the square.
You want to be inside the square telling people it's a diamond.
Break down: homogenization is the brand - that's why it's called "mass" marketing.
Give an eight-year-old an iPod, they scream for joy (hopefully): pause, rewind, play hundreds, thousands of songs.
Imagine if you gave a 21st century brat a vinyl record and an old record player which played but eight to 10 tracks before you had to physically walk to the player, turn the album over and then set down the needle? And it doesn't have cool earphones so you can walk down the street for everyone to see. Different story in the record player's heyday.
Well, some people still like to play records - some pretty awesome DJs do.
I don't feel like researching but I bet the guy who started scratchin' and sampling was as invisible as your brain cells until someone connected - it's called tinkering.
Most people really aren't that interesting any more.
I blame TV producers.
"Now is the winter of my discontent..." :•{(
People just don't tinker any more.
They switch off. Literally. I do it too, OK. So I know!
William Robinson, a great Australian artist, once said he was almost invisible for most of his career because he was too busy in the studio making art to promote himself - unlike some of his flamboyant contemporaries who are now forgotten.
And former Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer, talks about how seemingly insignificant discoveries all add up until one day the light bulb goes off - and that could be a century later.
I blame the TV networks for the lag. ;)
We spend most of our lives trying to be someone else, put down those who have what we don't, or go for broke in a jealous rage frantically burying it because Mozart wrote it and we didn't.
Even a tired smile and a pat on the head pleases a child seeking acknowledgement - but "the world" would have us bedazzled with the brilliance of a perfect set of veneers.
Why would someone who has something really, really special want to share it with "the world"?
It's an awesome prospect - in the fear and terror sense of the word.
When a gambler wins we are gobsmacked - as we stealthily climb into the saddle of that steamroller.
You want to know why I blame TV networks? Think reality TV!
We have laws against inciting hatred don't we?
Perhaps I should just stop right here.
The truth is 100 percent of the world possesses that elusive, invisible, beautiful, secret thing and it can't be bought and it can't be sold and it's invisible - until we express it in some visible form.
And we hope it's as beautiful as Apple's iPhone.
But if you want something commercial then make sure you're aiming squarely at that target - otherwise it's delusional.
Those of us who dare to call a square a square and not a diamond - whether from inside or outside the square - will dance in our living rooms, sing to the dog, write to our heart's content and dream with one foot in the grave looking up - like Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember - rushing towards that elusive, invisible, beautiful secret. And I don't care at all that no body's watching, reading or listening. In fact, I'm glad. :p
Ah, they've brought me my medication.... sometimes it's not the stars. Sometimes it's a button lying in a crack on the pavement.