"I am a Yarigai Logophile”
As a school
Chaplain I work with parents, students and teachers to ensure families that may
be finding the back-to-school effort and outlays a little challenging are supported. Starting
school or transitioning back to school after the summer holiday break can be
stressful for some. Add to that the potential financial pressure on families of
getting all the necessary items on the book list, school uniforms, computers, getting
routines organized, and things can be a little difficult. For students this may
be compounded by social and emotional stresses. Reading the social cues correctly.
Saying the right words at the right time to the right people. Not saying
anything at the right time. Timetabling. Behaviour expectations. Learning. Homework.
Assessments.
At the
beginning of my grade 4 school year, I was one of those students whose family
were struggling to face the challenge of making the budget work to pay for our
schooling necessities. Dad had been off work with an injury and things were
tight. I remember needing a dictionary as a required part of our schoolbooks acquisition
at the beginning of the school year. I remember going off to school with Dad’s
old Webster's dictionary and being told quite obtusely by my teacher that it was
the “wrong dictionary.” All the other kids had the correct one. I was the odd
one out. I think there were tears. I remember a letter home. Embarrassing
stares from my table group. I remember my honest wish to not just fit in, but
also have access to the learning tools I needed. I loved words and wanted to
get this part of my schooling right.
I love
words.
I am sure I
have said that before. Many times.
In Primary
School I was the kid at school who spent hours of my lunch time sourcing fresh
inspiring books in my school library. Particularly, I borrowed every book I
could get my hands on about Dinosaurs. Yes. I loved the Palaeontology and the amazing
forms these creatures had. Yet, perhaps
more telling I fell in love with their names, their meanings, and where their
names came from. I started with the the word “dinosaur” which is from the Greek
deinos (terrible) and sauros (lizard) ‘terrible lizards’. Then
came words like Tyranosaurus rex (which is derived from the Greek words tyrannos,
meaning "tyrant" and "sauros" (lizard) and the Latin word rex (meaning
"king"). I became a junior etymologist (at least about all things dinosaurs).
Getting my
first personal dictionary boosted my logophilia.
I was so very excited when Mum bought me that book with the green cover: “ The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary”. Mum worked extra hours to buy me that new dictionary. What a precious gift.
By the way, it didn’t fit in my pocket: it
was so loaded with beautiful, prepossessing words.
My love of
words grew.
A couple of years later, I started year 6 in an entirely different school.
My new teacher placed a challenge in front of us to learn a list of hundreds of
Latin and Greek roots and suffixes and prefixes. I was an average student academically,
but she inspired a passion in me to learn more.
At the end
of year 6 (before year 7 began in yet another school) I started to “read” the
dictionary. This was at the prompting of my grandfather who was an inspiring word
smith and cruciverbalist. I started in “A” and learnt and put into practice all
the new words I encountered. I then dove into a 22-volume encyclopedia of
animals and began to learn their names (including their Latin names). I was a
rabid lexophile. I read every book in our year level reading list. Year 7 I was
dux of my new school. I went on to being the first person in my family to go to
university.
(I loved
words even more. Words seemed to love me. I began to read the bible. I
discovered that The WORD loves me and saved me and has a plan and purpose for
me in sharing his love and words with others)
My wife and
I were inspired recently with the story in movie form (The Professor and the
Madman) of Sir James Murray (lexicographer) who was invited by Oxford University
Press to take on the job of capturing all the words then extant in the English-speaking
world in all their various shades of meaning. He is known as the first editor
of the Oxford English Dictionary. This fueled my back to school/ New Years resolution
which was to be more intentional about my reading list (actually finish that
pile of books I have waiting to be read) and ignited the other goal which is reflected
in my thoughts above: to embrace my love of words.
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| Sir James Murray in Scriptorium |
At our staff
personal development at the beginning of this school year our guest relayed some
mind-set thoughts with us and challenged us with this question:
“What is
high performance in your context? … Discuss with your partner.”
My
discussion with my partner (our teacher of Japanese) went something like how I aim
to do things that are worthwhile and supporting the efforts of others to
discover their purpose and meaning. My teacher friend grew excited as she
explained that there is a special word in Japanese that expressed my
sentiment. “Yarigai” she said “You are talking about Yarigai: it means
something worth doing especially when you are helping someone else, you are
helping yourself too.”
やり甲斐 = Yarigai
So allow me
to pose that question to you :
“What is
high performance in your context as a writer?”
For me it
is continuing to grow in my writing prowess and embrace my love of words to
help others fall in love with narratives that empower, motivate, inspire, and mobilize
them.
What is Yarigai
for you? What is your back-to-school
resolution?
Perhaps for
you - like me - it is to fall in love with words again. I plan to go “back to
school”, dust off my old dictionary and start reading it again. Noting the
words I need to learn. Finding out what they mean. I will put these words into action
by utilizing them creatively, and helping to inspire others in their worthwhile
living.
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| Shane Brigg - "I love words" |
