Thursday, December 6, 2018

Worthless or Priceless?

English is a weirdly put together construct.

According to Merriam Webster, "priceless" means having a value beyond any price and "worthless" means useless, contemptible, and despicable.  However, "price" means the cost at which something is obtained and "worth" means the value of something measured by its qualities or the esteem in which it is held.

It would seem, looking at the words themselves that "priceless" and "worthless" ought to be synonyms.  The words "price" and "worth" used to be considered synonyms, after all.  That is not how the English language works though.  Priceless is something beyond all measure of wonder, and worthless is the bottom of the bucket, scum of the earth.  Two words, that by all rights and means should mean the same, are turned into antonyms by English.

My depression often makes me feel worthless, but at one point someone who cared turned that word around for me.  Worthless then meant worth more than any price.  I'm struggling now, but I am holding onto that.  I have people showing me that, even when my brain is loud and raging against me, my worthlessness is in reality priceless and that I truly matter.

This is the dichotomy of my life.

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