Word Nerd is an on-going feature that shares and highlights unique, whimsical and sometimes forgotten or overlooked words. It’s dedicated to the logophile in us all.

Yugen  (yoo-gehn) n. (japanese)

An awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and mysterious for words. It is at the core of the appreciation of beauty and art in Japan. It is the subtle and the profound.

Yugen is that moment when you feel that deep, almost overwhelming sense of love, greatness, smallness and connection to everything that has, does and ever will exist that gives your being the seemingly wonderful and painful sense that all that you are feeling is too much for your mere human body to hold within.

Nature often provides such emotional and even physical responses from me and when I discovered Yugen, I had a perfect “Ahhhh” moment. Being part Native American has undoubtedly provided me with a very deep connection to Mother Earth and to all life, past,present and future, though the same can be said of anyone who is open to the Universe’s ever present touch, whether through their culture, faith or simply their humanity. Yugen is a feeling I am one with and which is one with me and I am forever glad of it’s subtle and profound effects on my life and being.

What have your moments of Yugen been like?

Namaste ~ Ella