Parea: The Beauty of Being Together
I recently read an interesting article that happened to coincide with the word I would write about this week. One of the very few fortunate situations for a writer is discovering an article that is relevant and intriguing to your writing topic without having to spend a lot of time researching it. Those who write are already aware of this, but for those who are not, I should explain that such favors do not happen often, at least for me.
The Bloomberg article is about the economy, but even more than that, it also shows a profound change in the sociological situation. The title of the article was The Introverts Have Taken Over the US Economy. In the US, where extroversion is almost a mandatory norm, introverts have gained enough power to impact the economy! That’s quite interesting.
According to the article, after the Covid pandemic was over, everyone went on a socializing and shopping spree. But it seems to have been short-lived, since the tendency of spending time at home has increased. People are going out to dinner earlier, office parties have been moved to daytime hours instead of night, and the new generation is drinking less. In fact, the author of the article, Allison Schrager, says that "Gen Z is shaping up to be the most sober generation in US history."
Technology also has an impact on the new social situation. In the past, the schedules of TV programs also shaped social life, but since we can watch programs on demand in the digital media, we tend to spend our evenings entertaining ourselves at home, instead of socializing outside. Although the article is about the US, I believe it’s no different in many countries.
The article ends a sentence which is hard to disagree. If you don't have fun now, you'll pay for it later. As the generation that drinks the least, it may be the healthiest, but the withdrawal from the company of other people can be devastating.
At this point, we arrive a gorgeous word in Greek, parea which is a group of friends who meet regularly to discuss their life experiences, beliefs, values, and ideas.
Parea sounds like a unique cure for the soul. To be with other people with whom you get along well and with whom you can share; to be able to talk about your ideas and be nourished by others' ideas; to be truly listened to by someone, but also to be able to truly listen to others. Everyone definitely needs a group like that.
This word reminds me of the Spanish word tertulia, which we discussed previously in Words of the World and has a similar connotation. While tertulia expresses a more artistic or intellectual form of conversations parea is a more casual form of togetherness. Overall both of them are more than welcome.
As an introvert, nowadays an ambivert, it sounds unwise to guard the armies of social gatherings, but being together is the strongest power of humankind and the presence of friends is one of the strongest feeding of our soul, so don’t leave the hands of your friends, hold them tight.
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I wish everyone a cheerful day together with their loved ones, laughing, chatting, and doing whatever will make you happy.
Resist anything dragging you into darkness, and for the sake of happiness, take the most stubborn version of yourself to stay positive!
Till next week,
— Gulsun
Thank you for taking the time to accompany me in the story of a new word. Every word of the world’s languages is also ours, belonging to humanity while giving us an essence of the culture in which it was rooted.
We are made of stories—that is, of words.
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