Prorsum Sursumque

CWs: impostor syndrome, work

I was thinking about the phrase “onward and upward” just now and wondered how that would work in Latin. Well, prorsum sursumque (“straight on and upward”) is probably the closest to that phrase. It’s a little trite but also perennially apt, the idea of moving on and leaving unpleasantry behind as well as one can. So it’s OK.

This has been a very long week, or at least has felt that way. I was on phones two days last week, then Monday, which is always emotionally exhausting, although most people were friendly, thankfully. And the past couple of days have been very busy as well, but I feel like I rocked Tuesday and today somehow, which is encouraging. I often have the worst bouts of impostor syndrome in my job, but days like yesterday and today make me feel good about myself and that I’m doing OK. And we’re halfway through the week, and the next couple of days will be pretty calm, as far as I know. And hopefully a calm weekend. My spouse has to work on Saturday, so I’ll be working on getting more Latin done for much of that day, but that’s OK. Maybe we’ll have a calm Sunday.

I found out this afternoon that friends of ours who were supposed to come visit in June are actually unable to come, unfortunately. My mom reached out recently to us about that, and said they weren’t coming, but then said they still might be but at a different time. Since we heard this secondhand, we figured we’d wait to hear from our friends directly, and my spouse heard from them today confirming they aren’t coming to visit. I have that week off in June, so hoping my parents can come visit instead and spend some time with us. We also are taking a long weekend in May, which is something to look forward to for sure. I’m just relieved to know what is going on. I don’t like confusion about plans, especially when I’ve already requested and been approved for the time off, y’know? I don’t mean to be inflexible but I just like to know what the plan is.

A lot of it has melted out of my brain at this point, but I remember reading fragments of the Presocratic philosopher Anaxagoras during my master’s program, and found it all fascinating. I remember there was one passage talking about what seemed to be parallel worlds/universes:

τούτων δὲ οὕτως ἐχόντων χρὴ δοκεῖν ἐνεῖναι πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς συγκρινομένοις καὶ σπέρματα πάντων χρημάτων καὶ ἰδέας παντοίας ἔχοντα καὶ χροιὰς καὶ ἡδονάς. καὶ ἀνθρώπους τε συμπαγῆναι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῶια ὅσα ψυχὴν ἔχει. καὶ τοῖς γε ἀνθρώποισιν εἶναι καὶ πόλεις συνωικημένας καὶ ἔργα κατεσκευασμένα, ὥσπερ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ ἠέλιόν τε αὐτοῖσιν εἶναι καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ὥσπερ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῖσι φύειν πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα, ὧν ἐκεῖνοι τὰ ὀνήιστα συνενεγκάμενοι εἰς τὴν οἴκησιν χρῶνται.

But since things are thus, it is necessary to think that many things of all kinds are in all the bodies formed by combination, which have both the seeds of all things and all sorts of forms, and both colors and flavors, and that humans were compounded, and the other animals, as many as have soul. And the humans, at least, have both thickly-peopled cities and cultivated farms, just as for us, and they have a sun and moon and all the other things, just as for us, and their earth produces many things of all kinds, the most serviceable of which they collected for themselves and used for their dwellings (Anaxagoras fr. 4.20-29 Diels-Kranz)

I just dimly remember that passage but I found it so cool! I miss studying that stuff but it is really hard to figure out, especially since they are using very precise philosophical vocabulary. The Greeks did not suffer from Lucretius’ patrii sermonis egestas (De rerum natura 1.832) or “poverty of ancestral language,” as Lucretius characterizes Latin’s lack of formal philosophical vocabulary and claims that he therefore had to create it from whole cloth. What an innovation!

I recently listened to an episode of the podcast Nocturne about “the night self” and it was fascinating. The guest, Annabel Abbs, wrote a book called Sleepless: Discovering the Power of the Night Self, which sounded really interesting. Abbs talked about struggling with insomnia and ended up embracing staying up late at night, eventually becoming more comfortable with it, and finding it a very creative space. In this she joined a long line of artists and authors who found the late hours of the night very fruitful. Overall it was a lovely episode, and I thought I’d check out the book as a result. I was able to put it on hold at our library, and my spouse picked it up for me today when they were grabbing their own books. I may start it tonight, since I’ll need to read it alongside the other books I’m reading. I love getting books at the library, but at the same time it’s a little stressful at times, because of the time limits for checkouts. I am a slow reader at times, depending on the book, and like to make sure I have enough time to finish a book. In any case, Nocturne is an excellent podcast and y’all should totally check it out.

Hope y’all are having a good week. As we slouch towards the weekend, again, I am ready for it, but it’s been a good, albeit long, week. Thanks for reading as usual, friends <3