Verb It!

I love to verb.  And to wordplay.

The English language, as complex and complicated as it is, doesn’t allow for accurate process-oriented descriptions of the variety of experiences we have.  As we human, we experience such an array of emotions, sensations, thoughts, patterns, etc.  And sometimes stringing a series of words together doesn’t quite essence the quality. 

When I “pause” to take in a moment and really be in it, the word “pause” doesn’t seem to cut it.  Sometimes the amount of experience dramatically increases, and pausing implies a halt – but a halt to what?  To the rushing of the body?  The mind?  It’s not obvious to me, because in a “pause” moment I can experience intense vibrations in my body, myriad emotions, wild fantasies, gentle mind-meanderings, thick air cut with the chirpings of birds…it varies, and sometimes it’s so much all at once. 

The only way I know to name my experience is that I “moment” – I actively take the time to be in the experience.  From the outside, this might not look like a pause.  I can moment while washing dishes, I can moment while scrolling Threads.  It’s an orientation, kind of like mindfulness, but it’s full-bodied.  Momenting can bring kairos into chronos – I don’t lose track of time, but the quality of time changes, becomes imbued with significance and ephemerality.

Part of my imaginal play includes invoking the (anthropomorphized) energy of an animal.  I animal (yes, I’m verbing that) when I want to bring in a quality: slow = turtle; clever + sensual = octopus; helpful = ladybug.  I know it’s my own human projection of the quality that I’m then bringing into my experience, but it’s still fun and meaningful.  

And I’m not “acting like a ladybug” or “being a ladybug” or “pretending I’m a ladybug” – it’s different.  To ladybug is to be a beneficial and contribute-- potentially by metaphorically biting an aphid's head off and sucking out the honeydew!  It's more fun to verb it, and why not have a little fun while bringing in meaning and gaining momentum?

So I’d love to know – how do you wordplay?