The "En" Word
I've been considering joy a lot lately. That, and its look-a-like, happiness. Too many—or not enough—books, articles, and magazines have been devoted to the pursuit of happiness. God only knows how many miserable hours were spent locating it, tracking it, hunting it down, capturing it. smothering it, and watching it die.
One of my personal pursuits for this season of my life is to enjoy. Despite my dark introduction, I actually believe this is an achievable goal. I'm not looking for some ethereal tooth fairy or Easter bunny. I'm looking for some cold, hard happiness. Pure and simple.
Have you ever thought about the word enjoy? Wait, let's start over; have you ever used the word enjoy? Let me guess, it probably sounded something like one of these phrases:
"I really enjoyed having you come for dinner."
"I really enjoyed that movie (book, tv show, article)."
"Did you enjoy the food?"
Like you, I've made the mistake of using enjoy this way. Basically, I use it as a "catch all" for when something strikes me as pleasant. In other words, when something is "enjoyable," I would say I've "enjoyed it." I'd like to suggest this is an entirely incorrect use of the word "enjoy."
I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for good words. I love words with rich and complex meanings. I love words that surprise me, like re-discovering long forgotten books collecting dust on their shelf until my eye catches them once again. Perhaps, this comes from way-back-when in kindergarten when my vocabulary book introduced words (and learning words) as "making new friends." As the book pointed out, by spending more time with a word, saying its name more in your everyday life... Well, the better you know that word. You have become friends. This is the way I feel about the word "enjoy." I'm finally getting to know him.
This is how I see it: the word "enjoy" has a very important prefix. This prefix is something I've sort of ignored in the past. Like, when I made friends in college, but knew nothing about their life pre-college. The word "enjoy" has the prefix "en" (I know, rocket science, right?). This tiny, seemingly insignificant detail is the most important part of the word. Do you know what the prefix "en" means? Let me give you a few examples and see if you can guess:
En Courage
En Slave
En Capsulate
En Danger
As you can see, I've included both positive and negative examples, which just adds to the significance of the word "en." Meaning, it can go either way, it just depends. Do you have a working theory for the definition of the prefix "en?" Think again about the examples. You probably know the definition of the word "courage." Words like bravery, guts, and chutzpah come to mind. So, what about "en" courage? It means to provide someone with a little head-start to bravery. Enslave? Well, that's the act and/or process of putting someone into captivity. What about encapsulate? That basically means to put something in a box, to figure out a way to contain it. And finally, endanger? To put in a dangerous situation. To set someone on the path to harm or terror. To put someone at risk.
Getting it now? The word "enjoy," because of that little prefix, essentially means, "to put into joy." You see, the way I've been using the word enjoy, and the way I see others using it, has nothing to do with personal autonomy. Rather, it has everything to do with the outside circumstances. As if it wasn't my choice to enjoy that book, it was simply a really good book, and ultimately the result of joy was "put into" by an outside force. This is not the way I was meant to "enjoy" things. That little "en" gives me the go-ahead to make out of my experience whatever I want. It gives me the responsibility for experiencing joy. It doesn't matter whether my steak was under-cooked or the movie was cheesy. What matters is whether or not I "enjoyed" it. That is, whether or not I put joy into it; or set it into joy (transformed it).
Rather than getting stuck with my "lot in life," I actually get to shape something. I get to mold it. In this season of my life, there are plenty of opportunities for disappointment. Unless, perhaps, I become an expert enjoyer. It is my mission to "put into joy" everything I face. It's essentially the vocation of professional creator, joy-finder, and hope-maker.
And I will say, the more often you make joy, the more often you have it.
I hope you enjoyed this story, now go enjoy the rest of your life!
One of my personal pursuits for this season of my life is to enjoy. Despite my dark introduction, I actually believe this is an achievable goal. I'm not looking for some ethereal tooth fairy or Easter bunny. I'm looking for some cold, hard happiness. Pure and simple.
Have you ever thought about the word enjoy? Wait, let's start over; have you ever used the word enjoy? Let me guess, it probably sounded something like one of these phrases:
"I really enjoyed having you come for dinner."
"I really enjoyed that movie (book, tv show, article)."
"Did you enjoy the food?"
Like you, I've made the mistake of using enjoy this way. Basically, I use it as a "catch all" for when something strikes me as pleasant. In other words, when something is "enjoyable," I would say I've "enjoyed it." I'd like to suggest this is an entirely incorrect use of the word "enjoy."
I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for good words. I love words with rich and complex meanings. I love words that surprise me, like re-discovering long forgotten books collecting dust on their shelf until my eye catches them once again. Perhaps, this comes from way-back-when in kindergarten when my vocabulary book introduced words (and learning words) as "making new friends." As the book pointed out, by spending more time with a word, saying its name more in your everyday life... Well, the better you know that word. You have become friends. This is the way I feel about the word "enjoy." I'm finally getting to know him.
This is how I see it: the word "enjoy" has a very important prefix. This prefix is something I've sort of ignored in the past. Like, when I made friends in college, but knew nothing about their life pre-college. The word "enjoy" has the prefix "en" (I know, rocket science, right?). This tiny, seemingly insignificant detail is the most important part of the word. Do you know what the prefix "en" means? Let me give you a few examples and see if you can guess:
En Courage
En Slave
En Capsulate
En Danger
As you can see, I've included both positive and negative examples, which just adds to the significance of the word "en." Meaning, it can go either way, it just depends. Do you have a working theory for the definition of the prefix "en?" Think again about the examples. You probably know the definition of the word "courage." Words like bravery, guts, and chutzpah come to mind. So, what about "en" courage? It means to provide someone with a little head-start to bravery. Enslave? Well, that's the act and/or process of putting someone into captivity. What about encapsulate? That basically means to put something in a box, to figure out a way to contain it. And finally, endanger? To put in a dangerous situation. To set someone on the path to harm or terror. To put someone at risk.
Getting it now? The word "enjoy," because of that little prefix, essentially means, "to put into joy." You see, the way I've been using the word enjoy, and the way I see others using it, has nothing to do with personal autonomy. Rather, it has everything to do with the outside circumstances. As if it wasn't my choice to enjoy that book, it was simply a really good book, and ultimately the result of joy was "put into" by an outside force. This is not the way I was meant to "enjoy" things. That little "en" gives me the go-ahead to make out of my experience whatever I want. It gives me the responsibility for experiencing joy. It doesn't matter whether my steak was under-cooked or the movie was cheesy. What matters is whether or not I "enjoyed" it. That is, whether or not I put joy into it; or set it into joy (transformed it).
Rather than getting stuck with my "lot in life," I actually get to shape something. I get to mold it. In this season of my life, there are plenty of opportunities for disappointment. Unless, perhaps, I become an expert enjoyer. It is my mission to "put into joy" everything I face. It's essentially the vocation of professional creator, joy-finder, and hope-maker.
And I will say, the more often you make joy, the more often you have it.
I hope you enjoyed this story, now go enjoy the rest of your life!
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