Etymology of "Recognize"
I inherited a lot from my mother, as first-born daughters do. Not all of it is good, not all of it is bad. I’m a reflection of her deepest wounds, and a manifestation of her ambitions.
One thing I inherited was her love of words and puzzles, and the puzzles that make up words.
My favorite word lately has been “recognize”.
The Oxford Language dictionary defines “recognize” as:
identify something (or someone) from having encountered them before; to know again.
acknowledge the existence, validity, or legality of
The etymology of “recognize” is quite simple: it has Latin roots, from re- again, and cognoscere- learn.
To recognize is to learn again.
Once, I went back in time and retrieved a piece of myself I had left in the past — the three-year-old version me who called into canyons and hoped the echo wasn’t lonely. I knew who she was from having been her before, but I did not recognize (acknowledge the existence of) her as a part of me until then.
When I met my best friend ten years ago, he felt familiar. I knew him, even though I hadn’t met him. I think we’ve spent several lifetimes around each other, and my soul identified his from having encountered him previously.
The trees that I don’t know the names of I can identify by their resonant energy. To know their scientific names is simply to know them another way.
Some days, I don’t know myself. I don’t recognize the person in the mirror, except that she looks vaguely like the person who keeps looking back at me, even though that’s not what I look like when I think of myself. So, I am in the process of recognizing myself, of learning again who I am in my entirety.
I am learning — for the first time — that my body is not a punishment, and I can make it my home if I want.
I am finding all the sharp edges and rough-hewn boundaries and feeling for the softness that I remember is beneath them. I don’t know the name of the softness, but I’ll recognize it when I find it.
The things that brought me joy were the things that I could escape into. I am learning for the first time to find joy in being grounded and present; I am learning again what brings me joy.
What are you recognizing about yourself?
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