He/She/It Was Approaching

Okay, so why appropinquabat? That's a perfectly reasonable question. There are [glances at the as yet unwritten final paragraph] three reasons.

Firstly, and most importantly, it was available - not a quality that can be overlooked when trying to settle on a name for a blog or website.

Secondly, the wishy-washy bit. The present is a confusing time in which to live. The world changes constantly and every day offers new situations or developments: new data demands us to assess what we thought we knew; things we take for granted distort or crumble; opportunities arise that must be weighed. Invariably we have to act straight away, long before we are able to discern the consequences.

I don't like this. My instinct is to prevaricate, so I don't close off potential options by making a decision. It's a pretty useless way to live, especially for any loved ones or colleagues who need to plan ahead, but sometimes, every now and again, waiting and doing nothing can turn out to have been the right answer.

And in between dodging decisions about the future and being muddled by the present, I am looking at the past - sometimes just because I am still trying to understand it, but more often just because it is fun. Looking back, we get to see more than we could at the time, or at least we get to see the same amount from a different vantage point.

Then I rediscovered this wonderful word: appropinquabat: "he, she, or it was approaching"); it delighted me. I love how the tenses are blended. It suggests the ephemeral passing moment, and the past event, reflected upon later, and even the as yet unseen future, pregnant with opportunity, or foreboding. This is how we interact with the universe: we try to anticipate the future, events occur, and then we understand them. To have all of this forwards-backwardsness wrapped up into one word is extremely pleasing.

The third reason: was there ever a word that was more fun to say out loud?