Embiggen

The above saying was uttered by Jebediah Springfield, founder of the fictional town of Springfield from TV's The Simpsons. The neologism, embiggen, was first used on the show in 1996 and has made its way into common use and even scientific journals. It first appeared in the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2018 and means to “make bigger or more expansive.”

When babies go to wellness exams, pediatricians check to see that they’re reaching developmental milestones that children typically reach by a certain age. These big moments, such as smiling, babbling, rolling over, sitting, and walking are essential for healthy growth and development, and are met with glee by parents when they first occur. Other milestones, such as the first day of school, graduation, a new job, falling in love, becoming a parent or grandparent… also play huge roles in growth and development.

But I believe that our smaller moments are equally as important as our milestones and that they can be infinitely embiggened.

One of the benefits of a regular yoga practice is that the more you practice, the more you’re able to tune into subtler and subtler sensations. It’s an incredible phenomenon that continues to blow my mind. You begin to notice each instant of each breath, each thought or emotion coming and going, each physical sensation rising and falling. You notice how your body and mind respond to the subtleties you’re observing. And this practice of noticing subtleties on your mat translates to noticing even the smallest moments off the mat. This in turn, embiggens those smaller moments which embiggens our bigger moments which embiggens our lives, our relationships, and our spirits.

Turns out, Jebediah Springfield---murderous pirate that he was later found to be---may have been onto something. The wisdom of his motto is, to me, perfectly cromulent.