German or Therapist

Emmanuel Lomax
1 min readNov 12, 2023

For a feeling of ‘Nifleich’

By rashid khreiss on Unsplash

I think I’m in need of a therapist — or a German. Frankly, I’d prefer a German, as they’d be of better help.

Germans are good at categorizing, at labeling emotions, ‘Zeitgeist’, ‘Schadenfreude’, ‘Blitzkrieg!’ all fantastic ways to describe emotions.

Labels are important, because sad is too vague, and despair too deep for what I feel right now. I’m within the layers of hopelessness holding out onto hope for the future.

How would a German describe that? I do not know.

Maybe, just this once, I can be German. I can take the time to make a word for a mixed emotion. I’ll call this one ‘Nifleich’, and I’ll define it as a general haze of waking sadness that never quite reaches despair because you have an unfounded belief things will turn out alright…or something like that.

I might actually need that therapist now that I think about it…

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Emmanuel Lomax
Emmanuel Lomax

Written by Emmanuel Lomax

Amateur writer with a love for discussion and languages. Currently learning and bettering myself. Slowly.

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