Return | Charcoal Dictionary

Charcoal Dictionary

Written by Shre Venkatesan | Edited by Shaylon Walker | Designed by Felix Huang

“Charcoal Dictionary” explores what six important words mean within the walls of Charcoal, helping the readers connect deeper with the community before going into the rest of Return.

Mirror /ˈmɪrər/ Noun

A reflection, only visible to the self, of everything you are and everything that you want to be; introspection of the self; understanding one’s identity; shows the realest form of the whole; coexistence of fear and fearlessness; mental, emotional, and physical transparency.

Introspection /ˌɪntrəˈspekʃn/ Noun

Diving deeper into the self to understand one’s own interactions with the external world; reading between the lines; under the surface; giving voice to mannerisms and habits that surface.

Identity /aɪˈdentəti/ Noun

Pure, personal disposition bringing in complete visibility to self; awareness of the self in the external world; creative tendencies; flaws and mistakes; thoughts and actions; mindsets; beliefs; values.

Purity/ˈpjʊrəti/ Noun

The raw self that comes out in a state free of expectations; when I am who I want to be and not who I am assumed to be; when I wake up and go to bed; when I was born and when I am about to die; aloneness.

Whole /həʊl/ Noun

Feeling everything to be everything that you are; inclusion of experiences, relationships, thoughts, desires, and emotions to their entirety; oneness.

Love /lʌv/ Noun

An overwhelming feeling of unconditional appreciation and attachment towards self, community, or other people; embracing flaws as flawlessness; yearning limitlessly.

Shre (they/them) is a sophomore majoring in Economics at Boston University. They’re from Trichy, a city in Tamil Nadu, India. They’re a writer and are interested in autofiction and poetry. Charcoal is one of the first places Shre found community in after moving to the US for college–this is their main source of inspiration for their piece.