Something Eloquent

Whelmed. I like that word but I find it strange that the com­mon Internet defin­i­tions of it often include “Overwhelmed” as a defin­i­tion. That is ques­tion­able to me. In fact, I am under­whelmed with any pos­it­ive emo­tions by that lazy defin­i­tion. See how that works?

If I am under­whelmed, then I have not yet reached a state of whelmed­ness, and if I am over­whelmed, then I have sur­passed by some meas­ure my long sought-out whelm­ing. Being whelmed is like being full, or like hav­ing all of some­thing that you can handle, but not more. It should be thrill­ing, not scary; It should be ful­filling and not bey­ond your reach. Being whelmed is like surf­ing on the edge of dis­aster, any more and the crash would be spec­tac­u­lar, any less and it would be boring.