I learned a new word today: frisson.


It’s a terrible word. It doesn’t hold up next to other French linguistic imports like genre, boutique, or hors d’oeuvres (good luck spelling that right on the first try… I couldn’t).

Anyway, the word frisson comes from French for “shivers” and it represents aesthetic chills… i.e., that surge of emotion you get when something lands just right, like in music, film, or art.

I looked it up after finishing a rewatch of The Leftovers. There are so many scenes in that show that give me goosebumps, that make me feel those chills.

It’s not the shocking or dramatic moments, or when characters are erupting in rage or despair. It’s the quiet moments, where someone is driving, sitting, staring. Stewing in hopelessness. Feeling that subtle sense that they don’t belong. Experiencing the fear that they’re coming undone.

The show creates those moments through a combination of writing, cinematography, and music, all working together to spark deep empathy towards its characters.

More than empathy, though, these moments create emotional resonance (and there’s probably another French word for that, but I’ll spare myself the etymological trip.) When it happens, it feels like this quiet echo from a part of yourself that’s been forgotten.

And in adulthood, in my relatively stable, happy life, feeling that resonance is a nice reminder that I’m capable of being moved.

And more than that, it’s a reminder of the drumbeat running through my life: a deep desire to feel connected.

current mood: pensive

current music: maxence cyrin – where is my mind