koinophobia – n. the fear that you’ve lived an ordinary life.
The last one of the year. I’ve enjoyed reading through this dictionary, learning new (made up) words, and thinking about life. Hope you have as well.
What’s an ordinary life? I think that’s what life is for many of us, though we have lots of little ups and downs, joys and sorrows, important events to us.
When I was younger, like many, I think I wanted to be a professional athlete or a rock star or a movie star or someone famous. Later, as I went through school and the tech booms, I wanted to be a rich tech person.
None of those happened, but I’ve had an amazing life. I think in many ways, it’s very pedestrian, and I walk through my days doing ordinary and simple things. I work at a desk, I shop for groceries, I go to the gym, I fix things around the house, I feed horses on the ranch.
I am also blessed to travel for work and stand on stage in front of many people. However, lots of my friends do the same thing.
I know I’m famous in a very narrow, weird way, but I also very much enjoy my anonymity in most of my life. I appreciate the time I have with others in my family, friend group, and community, as someone just participating in life with them.
I have no koiniphobia, not because of my life, but because everyone I know has their own interesting, unique, exciting things in their life. We don’t need to be on stage or in the media to live a very unordinary life. That’s what life is.
From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows