Gnossiennenos-yen

n. The awareness that someone you've known for years still has a private and mysterious inner life. Sometimes you catch a glimpse of her just being herself—brushing her teeth, chatting at a dinner party—and you're struck by her sheer uniqueness. Nobody else knows her the way you do.

She doesn't just exist in the contexts you see her in; she's steeped in her own unique vibe wherever she goes, surrounded by relationships with hundreds of people you'll never meet. When she's alone, she's someone else entirely—a person you'll never get a chance to meet.

You'll never fully know her, not really. But she'll never know you either. Yet over the years, something takes shape in the air between you—some third thing with a life of its own. The best you can do is keep showing up, never stop asking: "What are you thinking about?" It's the act of asking, of reaching across the gap—that is what's worth holding on to.