Than I Can Adequately Express
November 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm 6 comments
Life has been going well. It has been going really, really well. Surprisingly, this positive phase has been accompanied by a frustration. I am so full of love and happiness and gratitude that I struggle to articulate my feelings. No matter the word choice, it feels impotent. Sometimes I try to prefix my sentiment with words like “very” or “really” or “so” (see above). Other times, I try to reinforce the magnitude of a statement simply by saying it again and again in succession (see above). Those tactics fail and everything I say still seems to fall far short of the feelings inside.
Last night I was watching Part I of the Project Runway Season 6 Finale. Over the course of the season, the field of 16 designers had been whittled down to 3 finalists. The remaining contestants get to fulfill a dream. They get to display their work on fashion’s biggest stage– New York’s Bryant Park during Fashion Week. Early in the finale episode their mentor, Tim Gunn, addressed the three finalists:
Designers, I am more proud of you than I can adequately express.
And that’s it! That’s exactly how I feel!
Tim Gunn is known for his vocabulary and is sometimes described as a walking thesaurus. Yet here words even failed him! By simply admitting the emotion exceeded his (albeit formidable) communication skills, he conveyed more than intensifiers and relentless repetition ever could.
I will never design a fancy gown or even a sassy ensemble of separates. Nonetheless, I still found guidance from mentor Tim Gunn. Now I know what to say!
“I am more thankful than I can adequately express.”
“I am happier than I can adequately express.”
“I love you more than I can adequately express.”
Entry filed under: happiness, Project Runway, TV.
TGAW 
1.
Angel Preble | November 18, 2009 at 1:48 pm
and….
“You want to hike the Teton Crest Trail more than you can adequately express”. :0)
2.
tgaw | November 18, 2009 at 1:56 pm
LOL!!!!! Of course!
I was surprised you did not bring it up on Saturday! 🙂
3.
geekhiker | November 18, 2009 at 3:05 pm
If you can bottle up some of that “life has been going well,’ I’ll be first in line to buy…
4.
Erin Foote | November 18, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I completely understand what you mean – thank God for Tim Gunn! if it weren’t for him I would have neevr adopted his “Make it Work” as my office mantra. 🙂
5.
Kitty Wilkin | December 10, 2009 at 11:57 am
I love love love love this post!! (as you can see, I suffer from the same lack of ability to express feelings as you do)…. I also have been so filled with joy that the euphoria is inexplicable. It’s like my heart is bursting open… and you’re totally right! “Happier than I can adequately express” is a pretty darn accurate description for the feeling…. although part of me feels like by finding those words that so logically explain the feeling, some of the pizazz is lost. Maybe? I will keep that phrase in mind for future use, although I feel like I may still sometimes choose to just say words over and over again with a huge goofy grin on my face, and a soaring feeling of euphoria. I think the energy is felt, even if the words can’t adequately express the feelings 🙂 Glad to hear you’re doing well! It’s been a while since I’ve been blog hopping, and it’s good to be back (although possibly short lived, due to the impending arrival of a daughter! due in 8 days!) All the best!!
6. The Neighborhood Girls, Cindy McGill and Mary Kay « TGAW | January 21, 2010 at 12:26 am
[…] tried to thank Cindy the best that I could, but found it to be another one of those pesky “more than I can adequately express” moments. There may be a reason I was so touched. Ryan and I had seen generosity towards the […]