All memos tagged #notecard

The sense of agency, or sense of control, is the subjective awareness of initiating, executing, and controlling one's own volitional actions in the world. It is the pre-reflective awareness or...

birth is the emergence of a new individual from the body of its parent, and by extension the beginning or coming into existence of anything. The word carries several senses. It names the fact of...

grace is favor freely given — a disposition to or an act of kindness, courtesy, or clemency, and in theology divine assistance that is unearned — as well as a charming or attractive trait, especially...

desire is a conscious longing for something a person expects will bring satisfaction or enjoyment, and, as a verb, the act of longing or hoping for it. As a noun, desire names both the feeling and...

totality is an entire amount taken as a single whole, and the quality or state of being total — wholeness — with a specialized sense for the phase of an eclipse in which the covering is complete. The...

story is an account of events, real or imagined, told so that they hold together — a narrative with a teller, a sequence, and a meaning the telling gives it. The word dates to about 1200, from...

finite means having definite or definable limits — bounded in space, time, number, or extent, and therefore able to be counted, measured, or brought to an end. The word entered English in the early...

ephemeral describes something lasting a very short time — and, in its original and still-technical sense, something lasting only a single day. The general sense is the one most readers meet: an...

compassion is a sympathetic awareness of another's distress joined to the desire to relieve it — feeling someone's suffering and being moved to act on it. Compassion goes beyond just having pity for...

kindness is the quality or state of being kind — of a sympathetic or helpful nature, gentle, and disposed to give pleasure or relief — and, in a countable sense, a kind deed done for another. The...

A shadow is the dark shape cast when a body blocks light — and, in psychology, often a reference to the Shadow Self: the disowned parts of a person kept out of conscious view. The word comes from...

label is a slip or tag attached to something to identify it and, by extension, a word or phrase that names, describes, or classifies a person, thing, or idea; as a verb, to label is to attach such a...

An agreement is a harmony of opinion, action, or character — and, by extension, an arrangement between parties about a course of action, including one that binds them as a contract. The word arrived...

infinite means without limit or end — extending indefinitely in space, time, or quantity, or so great as to be immeasurable — and, as a noun, names whatever has no bound. The word entered English in...

universe is the whole of existing things — all matter, energy, space, and time taken together as a single system — and, by extension, the complete domain of anything considered as a whole. The word...

influencer is one who exerts influence — a person or organization able to sway others without force or direct command — and, most often today, a person who generates interest in something, such as a...

meditation is mental exercise — such as concentration on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra — undertaken to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness, and more broadly any sustained...

clarity is the quality of being clear — free of obscurity in thought, expression, or perception, so that what is meant or seen can be grasped without confusion. The word reached English around 1300...

affirmation is the act of affirming — asserting that something is true or confirming it — and the thing affirmed: a positive assertion. The word entered English in the early fifteenth century from...

community is a group of people bound by something held in common — a place, an interest, an identity, or a practice — together with the fellowship and mutual obligation that shared ground creates....