"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
- lifelessonsfrommem
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Memaw died in the spring of 1987. That fall, a movie was released called The Princess Bride. Memaw would have loved that movie. It has a great story and wonderful acting. But it is also funny, has lots of fantasy, and is light-hearted. It is a love story. In other words, it is whimsical….
The Word of the Year is Whimsy. The word comes from Gen Z. It is a word that has been used in social media quite a bit. But what does it mean? And where did the word come from?
According to the Gen Zers, the word means many different things: creative, playfulness, innocence, nostalgia, carefree.
It came from this generation as a way to deal with all the stressors in their lives right now–job market, politics, economy, war. Being “whimpsical” helps them (and us) alleviate some of those stressors, even for a little while. That is how you deal with stress–sometimes, you can’t solve the problem for the stress goes away, so you need to develop hobbies, habits, and skills to help alleviate some of that stress.
Gen Z has this perfect.
Social media talks about being creative, like painting or crocheting. Being playful, like skipping or having tea parties with your girlfriends. Nostalgia, like reading fairy tales or making paper chains. There is one Tik Tok video that says “Me trying to embrace whimsy in 2026” with a woman, wearing a robe, with pink paper garland chains around her neck, dancing in front of a house burning on fire.
Does being whimsical solve any of life’s problems? Nope. Neither does watching a movie that is whimsical. The problems are still there. The stress is still there and very real. But taking a break from the stress by having fun, being silly, using our creative side, being with our friends by hosting meals using new recipes—these are all great ideas for our mental health.
Stress will always be in your life. There will NEVER be a time when you will be totally stress free. But, like a roller coaster, there will be times of high stress and times of low stress. How you deal with that stress is what matters.
Be whimsical. And thank Gen Z for helping us remember what it is like to be whimsical.
Blog Website: https://www.lifelessonsfrommemaw.com/
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