Word: Desperate
Definition: Feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is impossible to deal with.
Original Attempt (excerpt):
βNO! I scream out. I tries to stop it. I need to stop it. To hinder it happening. The world starts going in slow motion. There is nothing I can doβ¦.β
Gap:
This touches the panic of desperation but stays generic. No clear texture of the desperation β no body, no stakes, no cost.
Rewrite (embodied):
Desperate is pawing at a locked door when you can hear someone you love crying on the other side. Itβs dialling the same number again and again, even though you know no one will answer. Desperate is bargaining with the universe β βTake anything, take everything, just not this.β
Rewrite (visceral): Desperation feels like overwhelming urgency, panic, hopelessness, and a frantic now-or-never mentality, leading to rash decisions and physical symptoms like a racing heart and tension, as the nervous system perceives an immediate threat. You feel disconnected, exhausted, and ready to do whatever it takes, often causing you to accept things that are not good for you.Β
Expansion:
Question:
Think of a time you were desperate β not just wanting, but needing, with no alternatives. What did that desperation drive you to do?
