My conniving journal betrays my inmost thoughts as it reveals my words from yesterday; You made me different, Lord. That thought, undoubtedly, rose out of my insatiable need for contemplation. I while away minutes that become hours just thinking—the more obscure the thoughts, the better. Contemplatives are observers and often sentimental. If a person communicates nonverbally in my presence, I’m likely to build a story around it. At times, Mark Twain and Norman Rockwell seem like closer friends than my own circle of a few.
I scribble a newly invented word—sentimentarian—in the margin of the journal, which in turn makes its way to the keyboard. Spell checker hates me for it. Time pauses while the made-up word marinates within my mind. Yep! That’s me.
A made-up word deserves a made-up definition. Sentimentarian: a person whose keen sense of observation, feelings, and wonder seeks to elicit the same response of wonder and emotion in others.
Sentimentarian. I like it. It rolls off my tongue. It grants permission for the intense emotions that tingle within when I witness two elderly friends greeting one another or a mama cuddling her sleeping baby or the first hint of color in the spring.
At times, frustration tightens its grip on my heart when others miss the simplistic moments of beauty that cause me to stop and pause and ponder. Looks of amusement reveal my friends’ assessment of my distraction. They just don’t get it. They must not be a sentimentarian, I decide.
Why fight it? That’s who I am—a sentimentarian from birth.
Is the same true of you? Do you wrestle with a part of your personality that causes you to stand out? Oh . . . it can be controlled, but it longs to be released into the purpose for which it was designed. What makes you unique? What makes you quirky? What’s your idiosyncrasy?
Think about it today. Embrace it. Make friends with it. Celebrate it. Thank God for it and consider how you can use it for his glory.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14 NIV).
I have often searched for others who believe in Sentimentarianism. I also consider myself a Sentimentarian. But perhaps for a slightly different reason. Like a Librarian, who manages a library of books, I maintain a library of sentiment. Primarily Customer Sentiment. I have replaced the age old question people ask customers; "What do you think of..." with "How do you feel about..." tapping into feelings and emotions instead of tactical thoughts and data. Its my life's work. My definition is a little different as well, in that we (I) seek to collect and understand the sentiment of others through a common method of active listening.
Doug G.
I love this!! Just recently I've been going deep with my personality type and really embracing its strengths as I try to leave time in my schedule to cultivate the things I do best (while also signing myself up for "growing" opportunities). It has been so powerful! And this article is fuel to the fire!
I’m a sentimentarian too 🙌🏼