A Little White Smoke

Have any of you noticed that, recently, certain words have permeated either our consciousness or our vocabulary? I have found myself using these words in a variety of circumstances that have no reference to what is currently going on at the Vatican.  Instead of saying that a certain group I know is having a meeting, I use the word conclave.  And instead of clicking like or unlike on facebook, I find myself wanting to click white smoke or black smoke. 

I sit in my den and look out my French doors to my small backyard -- yet, instead of thinking of the beautiful red cardinals that fly into my yard from time to time, now I am thinking about the College of Cardinals who are making important decisions in Rome.  All this being said, I must remind you that I am not a Roman Catholic, and except for a general interest in history and tradition, I really don't have a horse in the race for pope.  However, I still find myself saying or thinking, "It doesn't take a College of Cardinals to decide for me to do X," and similar expressions. Or, "When I make my decision to do such and such, I'll send up the white smoke to let you know."  Why do I do that?  Why do we do that?

I never use words referring to specific terms used in our War on Terror and Terrorists, and I could not make an intelligent sentence using words like drone or sequester, unless it was about a dull noise or hiding something. Yet, these days, I punctuate my sentences with the jargon, usually reserved for the election of a pope.  

Perhaps, it is because during this particular go-round, there is no sadness over the death of a pope.  There is only anticipation of a new Holy Father.  And, this is good news, as opposed to war,  things dropping from the sky, and the country going broke.  Subconsciously, perhaps we all want to be at the Vatican to receive the good news or even to be in the Sistine Chapel to be a part of the decision.

When I was in graduate school, I remember a professor talking about ennui.  He was talking about the "shut down" of workers in the workplace and said that at some point, some members of the workforce develop ennui or boredom.  The word is, of course, French, and it comes from the Middle Ages.  It seems that it was first used to describe Catholic Clerics/priests who, when they  got to that point in their careers and realized that they would never be pope, they developed ennui and sort of shut down  their fervor and their energy when it came to their work.

I don't know what ennui has to do with my making references to these particular words and expressions, but it seemed like a good idea to mention it here. On-the-other-hand, maybe we have developed ennui as we know that our names will never be mentioned by the conclave of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.  I guess it is like the difference between British children touring castles and palaces in England, knowing that they can never live there, and our American children touring the White House and knowing that it is possible that, someday, they can live there!  

If you are reading this, the chances are you'll never be pope.  I'll never be pope.  But consciously or subconsciously, perhaps I am reacting to this brick wall in my life, and that, somehow, causes me to use the jargon of the process of selecting the pope.  And, because neither you nor I shall ever be pope, we have developed ennui. And in my boredom, I write this blog. . .and in your boredom, you read it!