Word choice is a simple way to bring more energy, clarity and you to your writing. Here's a new-to-me term that got my attention because of the way it sounds.
Admittedly, it's unlikely you or I will have cause to deploy this word outside of word-nerd conversations, but I'm diving into it because I like the way it sounds: Deliquescent.
It sounds delicate, slow — and for some reason summery to me. When I looked it up at Merriam-Webster, my sense of wasn't far off:
1: tending to melt or dissolve; especially: tending to undergo gradual dissolution and liquefaction by the attraction and absorption of moisture from the air
Cool! I love when that happens. And then I noticed the second definition!
2: having repeated division into branches
Why is that exciting, you might be wondering? Because one of the things I love talking about and showing my pals when we're out in nature is fractals.
: any of various extremely irregular curves or shapes for which any suitably chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller part when magnified or reduced to the same size
I've created a bunch of activities for "fractalizing" and even included one on an interpretive sign I created for Triangle Land Conservancy:
It's right there by the cardinal: "Look at the canopy. Identify the recurring patterns (fractals) and interesting shapes revealed with the leaves gone. When you find a pattern, look at it for a few minutes. Notice how looking at fractals influences your mood and your breathing. What else do you notice about the tree's 'skeleton'?"
So, it turns out, I might actually be able to use deliquescent naturally after all! What about you?
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