I love that word. Turns out it comes from a fellow's name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Mesmer and though it's widely used to mean "to hold the attention of someone to the exclusion of all else", Mesmer himself was a little bit more mystical than Webster's. He believed that there was a "a natural energetic transference that occurred between all animated and inanimate objects . . . called magnétisme animal (animal magnetism) and other spiritual forces often grouped together as mesmerism."
Well, I don't know about you, but I've smelled smells and heard songs and tasted tastes and seen sights that are positively transcendent: that take me away, out of the daily grind and concentrate my attention on them and them alone. These things I've always called "mesmerizing" and the image directly below is the most recent example of something that has mesmerized me.
Found it online somewhere, I think on Facebook. (ha.) I simply find it mesmerizing; I could look at it over and over and not get bored. It also reminded me of this painting by Magritte, Les Jours Gigantesque (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-20/ross-buys-magritte-work-for-11-3-million-nine-times-estimate.html)
And this album cover of a record I bought when it came out in 1977:
And last but not least, here's my favorite song ("Mesmerizing") off of a really incredible album: Exile in Guyville, by Liz Phair. Enjoy:
No comments:
Post a Comment