To me, life is a series of chaotic rumblings and stirrings — an unpredictable swirling of randomness.
Our brain is wired to seek structure through patterns and repetitions, but that doesn’t mean reality is so.
Language itself compels us to shape and structure our thoughts and that is precisely why each of us arrive at multiple meanings and different perspectives.
How did you first come across this word? Do you remember when you started liking it? Does it remind you of a particular moment, person, or memory?
“One must have chaos within oneself to give birth to a dancing star.”
Friedrich Nietzsche from ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’.
I don’t recall exactly when I first came across this word. However, during my undergrad studies, my favourite philosopher, Nietzsche, mesmerized me with this brilliant quote. It made me reflect deeply on the word itself — its power, its contradiction and paradox.
If you had to describe your favourite word to someone who doesn’t know it, how would you do it?
It is a paradoxical thing to explain.
It is a word that defies all rhyme and reason. It is a giant mess of everything that somehow leads to sense — for what we perceive as chaos is often part of a larger cause and effect.
Do you like it more for its meaning or for how it sounds? Do you enjoy how the word sounds when spoken aloud? Does the rhythm, length, or spelling of the word play into why you like it? Do you associate your favourite word with a colour, sound, or image?
The two syllabic word /ˈkeɪ.ɒs/ is perfect and sounds exotic!
I love the way it stirs sharply at the back of the mouth (/k/ velar), glides seductively forward to the front /eɪ/ and then steps back /ɒ/ and ends with a breathy exhale /s/ and a dramatic flourish.
If the word ‘chaos’ were a dance, it would dazzle the world with an emotionally charged volatile tango.
It encompasses far more than its length suggests.
It is an overachiever amongst words — leaping literally from nothing to everything. It goes from the deep, dark midnight blue of the universe to a chromatic whirl of abstract expressionism.
The word comes from Ancient Greek word χάος (khaos), which originally meant “abyss” or “a gaping void.” In Hesiod’s Theogony, ‘chaos’ was the primordial emptiness from which everything emerged — a yawning chasm before the birth of the cosmos.
The term passed into Latin as ‘chaos’, keeping its sense of vast emptiness, and then into Old French in the 14th century.
By the time it entered English, it still meant “immeasurable space” or “void”. Around the 1600s, influenced by Classical authors like Ovid, the meaning evolved to signify not just emptiness, but disorder, confusion, and a jumbled mass — the opposite of cosmos, which means order. Source
 |
Press enter or click to view image in full size Nature is painted chaos…somehow it all works. Photo by Author. Shimla 2025 |
What does this word mean to you personally? What feelings does the word bring up when you say or hear it? Does it connect to a value, belief, or philosophy you hold?
I believe chaos is the most essential seed of all creation.
It evokes inspiration, hope, and the confirmation that in spite of or perhaps because of all the chaos in life, we can find our unique path and that life throws us again and again into the swirling mess, till we master the steps and learn to dance to its rhythm.
Perhaps, things fall apart so that they can come together in a better way.
If your favourite word were a person, what kind of personality would it have? Does the word link to your culture, background, or language in any way?
Although, chaos often carries a negative connotation, I agree with Nietzsche that it is a necessary condition for evolution and creation.
If Loki, the trickster, had a little more conscience and a little less shadow, I would choose him.
But closer to home in Indian mythology, I would go with Shiva, literally ‘that which is not’, the cosmic dancer and the destroyer of negative forces who restores the balance between good and evil.
If you had to write a poem or story around your favourite word, what would it be about?
Mistakes abound.
I stumbled around.
Searching semblance,
orders ordained
Realisation Reels,
Nuclear Kneels
That Chaos inside is
Clarity in reprise
That perfection is
but a mirage.
Chaos rumbles,
dances, unifies, & underlines
It is the ultimate universal update.
If your favourite word could describe a phase of your life, which one would it be?
Every single phase! It surrounds every moment.
I feel I am a flibbertigibbet forever caught in between a flux of things and change.
In any case, only dust settles. We are built for change, growth and wisdom in response to it all.
Would you ever get it as a tattoo or use it in art? Why or why not?
While I admire artistic tattoos on others, I wouldn’t and cannot deliberately mark my body for I believe we as human beings are constantly evolving and a tattoo feels too permanent.
Besides, I have trypanophobia!!!!
If you could give this word to someone else as a gift, who would it be and why?
I would gift it to a certain orange combover buffoon in the hope that he will attain the ultimate knowledge(brahman) and take samadhi somewhere on the vast expanse of his Mar-a-Lago estate and leave the word a better place.
The story is first published on Catharsis Chronicles on Medium and is inspired by a monthly prompt from the Chrysa Stergiou, editor of Catharsis Chronicles.
© Anu Maheshwari, 2025. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment