Summary

The website content discusses the creation and significance of the portmanteau "Surthrival," coined by the author's wife, which encapsulates the concept of flourishing amidst adversity, and the couple's efforts to have it included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Abstract

The author of the web content, a self-proclaimed word nerd and bibliophile, shares the story of how his wife ingeniously crafted the term "Surthrival," a blend of surviving and thriving. This term is described as a powerful and emotionally resonant expression that captures the essence of not just enduring challenging times but also growing and flourishing within them. The author emphasizes the relevance of this word in the context of the global pandemic and other trying circumstances faced by many. He details the process of getting the term officially recognized and encourages readers to adopt and spread its use, hoping it will be accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary. The piece concludes with a call to action for readers to join in a movement of "Surthrival," promoting resilience, growth, and communal support.

Opinions

The author expresses a deep appreciation for his wife's creativity and intelligence in inventing the word "Surthrival."

Photo credit. Not quite Steve Fisher and Miss Mojo Brown.

Surthrival.

Lucy the Eggcademic has written a piece including a prompt concerning surviving and thriving. Well….. I have written a piece for another magazine, where I have mentioned about how my wife invented a portmanteau (we are both wordnerds and bibliophiles) which was, in my thoroughly biased and yet humble opinion, simply brilliant.

The portmanteau is Surthrival.

You can verbify it, adjectify it, it can suffer declension, it is a genuine word, unlike verbify and adjectify, but you understand from where I come.

The definition my glorious, beautiful and clever wife (Have faith dear reader, we have not just had an argument and I am neither full of a blue stilton…. the truth is simply the truth and I report it to you) came up with was, drum roll if you would be so kind……….

“Existing in adverse conditions yet not just accepting those conditions but flourishing within them.”

The definition is fairly irrelevant because the word elicits an almost emotional, visceral understanding and is a very pertinent word for the year we have just experienced and the unknown amount of time we have to yet try and surthrive through.

Surthrival.

Take a moment and breathe the word. Inhale it and let it jump the synaptic connections, zoom down the axon to the vesicle where the neurotransmitters are released and then to the synaptic cleft where my knowledge of neurobiology is gently forgotten, but where the word surthrival should be escalating and becoming more and more important, should be cemented in the minds of all of us, because it is what we all need to do.

Thriving is moving forward, growing or developing in life regardless of the external occurrences, bad or good.

Surviving is existing in life regardless of the external experiences. To not fail or be destroyed.

Surthriving is what every human being should be doing. Especially now.

It is my dream to have a word that I have invented be accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary. Well, my wife beat me to it (the word) and now we have to go through the administration process of applying to have it accepted. We are in the process of that now and I hope that the members of Medium are kind enough not to read this and then plagiarise my wife’s wondrous idea. But by all means spread the word, for it has to be in common usage to be accepted.

It is a word for the age, it fits so perfectly and for all those whom the virus has affected, those who actually had the virus, their loved ones, those who had their cancer operations postponed, the homeless, the millions whose mental health has been sent on a hellish rollercoaster ride whilst being asked to hold a glass of water in one hand without spilling a drop and having to play one handed roulette, and win, with the other hand, I bow and send love to you all. To everyone. Excepting the disgraceful politicians……no, don’t get me starting on that one. I have a different portmanteau for those wankers, and they don’t actually deserve the time I have spent thinking of it. Oh, and the rollercoaster folk had to feed the kids.

We watched a TED talk the other day where psychologists have shown that as far as leadership goes, it is not the leader who is the most important, but the first follower of that leader, the one who believes in the leader because if others see that one person believes in the leader then they too feel that they can believe. (We are very weird creatures indeed). Once the first follower believes, then others rapidly follow and before you know it, you have a movement, the tipping point is passed and change occurs. So Lucy the Eggcademic is the leader in this instance. I am more than happy to be the first follower along with my wife, so please follow Lucy and I and let us all create a genuine, kind, loving and embracing movement, a movement of surthrival!

I want you all to surthrive.

(And I want my wife’s word to get into the O.E.D.)

Not much to ask.

Is it?

Happy surthrival girls, boys, and those who, often very bravely, choose to be whoever they are.

Love to you all.

Keep on keeping on. And Surthrive!

With many thanks to Lucy the Eggcademic. The Leader!