Monachopsis. n. The subtle but persistent sensation of being out of place, slightly uncomfortable in your own skin, feeling as though you watch life go by as an observer. Though the word itself sounds foreign, the concept perfectly encapsulates the emotion that all souls on this planet experience at some point in their life. In fact, this state is so common that it’s portrayed in many streams of media – paintings, film, music. When your diagnosis is monachopsis, dive into these works to feel less alone.
Kid A – Radiohead
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has definitely experienced the feeling of a world that’s slightly off, to an intense degree. Surreal and haunting, Kid A (released in 2000), is saturated with cold alienation and detachment, and creates the feeling of walking alone through an empty city at night. Yorke’s distant, ghostlike vocals enhance the feeling. The ironically named first track, “Everything in Its Right Place” opens with an eerie and off-putting synth line, followed by the repetitive chanting of the song’s title. It’s almost as if the narrator is trying to convince himself that he is not slowly losing his mind. The chaotic, empty tone of the album showcases a distorted reality where if you’re experiencing monochopsis you’ll feel all too at home..
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
No stranger to the world of psychotic feelings and loneliness, Sylvia Plath’s writing perfectly encapsulates isolation. The Bell Jar follows the story of college student Esther Greenwood, a wannabe poet, driven slowly mad by her increasing sense of dissociation from her peers and the world at large, brought on by a struggle with her sense of self and duty. This stream of consciousness and dream-like novel conveys the feeling of mental distance from the rest of the world. Plath’s genius creates an uncomfortable, painfully honest read and Esther Greenwood is the perfect companion to share your mal de vivre with.
Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola
With muted tones and trance-like scenes, Lost in Translation is the story of two lonely souls adrift in Tokyo. This beautifully melancholic film that explores how isolating a foreign city can feel manages to perfectly replicate that inner sense of displacement. Bob and Charlotte – Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson respectively – connect over their search for purpose and meaning in life, soothing any worries in the viewer that monachopsis is a solitary condition.
Melancholy – Edvard Munch
There’s a good chance this painting bears an uncanny resemblance to your own dejected mentality. A lonely soul in the painting’s foreground stares contemplatively into the distance seemingly lost in thought while people interact in the background. This contrast highlights the increased despondency created when those around you are connected and happy. Knowing that even celebrated artists like Munch experienced monachopsis might render your discomfort more palatable.
Intelligent and esoteric, these ‘detached’ artists earned the title of “outsider” and were lauded for their ability to convey the human experience through art. Through their work we share the distant and the lonely, and the ups and downs of the human experience. In sharing their haunted journey and in our realization of its centrality to what it is to be human, we can agree with American essayist Henry David Thoreau, who advised that the best thing one can do is “ to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life ”and own the monochopsis in all of us. So step through the looking glass and find a piece of yourself within one of these works.
