A series that examines familiar ideas, assumptions, and behaviours from angles we often overlook. (also on Substack)
I recently rediscovered an old piece of audio equipment that my bought when I was about 14, which later became mine. It’s an AKAI amplifier. I’ve had it all this time — and up until maybe 10 years ago, it was still in use in the living room.
While looking for some history on it, I found a photograph on the interwebs.
And I had a feeling. One I’ve had before….
The closest I could come to describing it was that it was kind of like the feeling you might get when you see a celebrity in real life. There is a small jolt of delight that comes from seeing something deeply familiar suddenly appear outside its usual context.
It’s kind of like nostalgia, but there’s no sadness associated with it — just joy.
It’s also kind of like a glimmer — but a very specific kind of glimmer.
An object may have sat in your home for decades, becoming almost invisible through familiarity. Then you see it in an old catalogue, a museum photograph, or someone else’s collection, and for a moment it becomes strange and important again.
I decided we need a word for it.
I couldn’t find an English word, so I thought maybe I could build one in German. They allow that sort of thing.
Vertrautheitsstaunen:
The wonder of encountering the familiar as though it had briefly become famous.
Vertrautheit — intimate familiarity
Staunen — delighted wonder/astonishment.
Not “I miss this.” Not even merely “I recognize this.”
More “Good heavens — there YOU are. My world just got a little bigger, because you now exist outside my little world too.”
Feel free to use it.
