Marvelous, splendid, glorious, magnificent, lustrous, resplendent, ravishing, pulchritudinous, superb…
These superlatives are currently considered somewhat antiquated, and take a tragic back seat to the contemporary lexicon of adjectives like cool, awesome, and sweet.
The same can also be said for the negative superlatives, like despicable, detestable, loathsome, abhorrent, odious, heinous, nefarious.
My friend Sandy went to see a show by a local performance artist and described it as execrable. With sheepish delight, I had to go look up the word.
Some days I long for superlatives that highlight the nuanced aspects of human experience. Deeper than merely pleasurable, more magical than just cool, and richer than simply sweet. When something is so sublime that it knocks me off my feet and renders me speechless or tearful, I delight in words as commanding as pulchritudinous; awkward as it may be, it demands my attention and makes its point respendently.
I'm beginning to lose my patience with obscure responses, like "fine" or "okay," to the simple question "how are you?" I am more interested in the technicolor truth with all of its glorious layers.
I am a sucker for specificity.
And in between the layers, I relish the graced silences.