The living dictionary

The words we use help shape the world we notice.

The living dictionary — soundscape

About the living dictionary +

Language does more than label a world that is already neatly divided into things. Words draw boundaries, direct attention and make some relationships easier to see than others. When a culture repeatedly names things as separate objects, we can begin to experience them that way. But life is also movement, relationship, process and exchange. Changing the words we use does not magically change reality — but it can change what we become able to notice, question and imagine.

A dictionary that is allowed to stay unfinished

The living dictionary is a place to gather words that help us ask different questions. Its definitions remain fluid. Meaning can deepen through research, experience and conversation, and you may think of a new word to explore. Above all, the dictionary is a playground where we can try out new definitions and ideas for words we already know.

Each word below opens into a small idea page. We begin with a familiar meaning and loosen it a little: what assumptions are hidden inside the word? What becomes visible if we look again? A HomeBeing definition is a working proposition and an invitation to play: something to think with, question and develop further.

This matters because changing how we live may sometimes require changing the language available to us and the meaning embedded in words. If we only have words for home as property, nature as somewhere outside us, thinking as something the brain does alone, success as productivity and rest as its opposite, those meanings quietly narrow the futures we can imagine. The dictionary is an invitation to make those assumptions visible — and to ask whether other meanings might help us live differently.

BELONGING

The familiar meaning

Being accepted as part of a place or group.

Let's look again.

What if belonging is not simply being welcomed into a place or group, but feeling that we are part of it? That feeling can grow through access, memories, traditions, culture and the small traces we are free to leave behind. A place or group we belong to does more than make room for us: it allows us to participate, contribute and make a difference through our presence. Perhaps we belong when the invitation is not “You may be here”, but “Create with us”.

A HomeBeing definition:

Belonging is the experience of being part of a place or group: the freedom to be, participate, contribute and leave a trace.

SUCCESS

The familiar meaning

Achieving a desired outcome, often measured in status, productivity, money or recognition.

Let's look again.

What if success means learning to live within life's rhythm, rather than rising above the world and stepping outside that rhythm to move faster and become more?

A HomeBeing definition:

Success is living in greater harmony with what you value and belong to.

BEAUTY

The familiar meaning

Something pleasing to look at.

Let's look again.

What if beauty is something we feel and experience, as well as something we see? It can live in light moving across a wall, the texture of an object worn by time, a familiar smell, a sound, a memory or the way people gather in a room. Perhaps beauty is a moment of connection between us and the surrounding world, rather than a property of an object or a home.

A HomeBeing definition:

Beauty is a meaningful sensory relationship, extending beyond the visual.

HOME

The familiar meaning

A place where someone lives.

Let's look again.

What if home is more than a container for your life? What if it participates in that life, shaping your habits, relationships, nervous system, memories and even how you think?

A HomeBeing definition:

Home is the environment we shape around ourselves, which in turn helps shape us.

THINKING

The familiar meaning

Thinking takes place in the brain, inside the head.

Let's look again.

What if the brain or mind does not do all our thinking alone, inside our heads? Ideas about embodied and extended cognition draw attention to how we use our bodies, movement, objects, spaces, other people and our surroundings to remember, reason, concentrate, understand and think.

A HomeBeing definition:

Thinking is an activity that can emerge through the interaction of mind, body and environment.

REST

The familiar meaning

Freedom from work and exertion.

Let's look again.

What if rest is more than the absence of productivity? Living systems alternate between activity and recovery. An environment can ease that transition or keep sending signals of unfinished tasks, stimulation and vigilance.

A HomeBeing definition:

Rest is an active state that allows a living system to renew itself.

PLAY

The familiar meaning

An activity undertaken primarily for enjoyment and fun.

Let's look again.

What if play is our most important way of discovering possibilities and creating the conditions we hope for in the future? Moving a chair, painting something unexpected, making instead of buying, using an object ‘wrongly’: play interrupts the assumption that things must stay as they are. It makes room for imagination.

A HomeBeing definition:

Play is an experiment in living.

BODY

The familiar meaning

The physical part of a person, often distinguished from the mind.

Let's look again.

What if the body is more than a vehicle that houses the mind and carries it through the world? We meet every space with our bodies as well as our minds, through breathing, balance, temperature, movement, sensation, interoception and the nervous system. Experience is bodily before it becomes meaningful material for thought.

A HomeBeing definition:

The body is inseparable from experience and thought, and is one of the ways thinking becomes possible.

NATURE

The familiar meaning

The world beyond human construction: landscapes, plants, animals and places outside cities and buildings.

Let's look again.

We often speak of ‘going out into nature’, as though nature begins where the city ends. But where exactly does it begin? Is a houseplant nature? The bacteria in our bodies? Our bodies themselves? What changes when the boundary between humans and nature becomes less distinct, or even invisible?

A HomeBeing definition:

Nature is a living system we belong to, and therefore part of what we ourselves are. It is more than a place we visit.

ENOUGH

The familiar meaning

As much as is necessary.

Let's look again.

In a culture centred on consumption, recognising ‘enough’ can be surprisingly difficult. Homes can become storehouses for outdated identities we rushed to buy as fashions changed. What if enough is simply the point where attention can shift from acquiring to living?

A HomeBeing definition:

Enough is the point at which more no longer adds value.

COMMUNITY

The familiar meaning

A group of people who share a place, activities, an identity or an interest.

Let's look again.

What if community is also something our surroundings can help cultivate? A table to gather around, extra chairs, shared gardens, access for everyone, walkable streets and places where there is no need to hurry can give community opportunities to thrive. Relationships grow between people, but the conditions in which they flourish are partly designed. Perhaps community has an architecture: one that makes room for time together, reciprocity and participation in life.

A HomeBeing definition:

Community is a web of relationships nourished by repeated opportunities to meet, contribute and care.

CARE

The familiar meaning

Looking after someone or something.

Let's look again.

What if care is a way of being in relationship with the world, as well as a feeling towards someone or something? We show care through attention, presence, nourishment, maintenance and repair: by noticing what needs us and responding. We create conditions in which people, plants, animals, places and the things we value can continue to thrive. Perhaps care is one way of acknowledging that nothing exists entirely on its own: life depends on reciprocal relationships.

A HomeBeing definition:

Care is active participation in sustaining life.

WELLBEING

The familiar meaning

Being healthy, happy and feeling well.

Let's look again.

What if wellbeing is neither an individual achievement nor a permanent state? It changes with our relationships, safety, movement, meaning, nature, circumstances and the environments we inhabit.

A HomeBeing definition:

Wellbeing is a living being's ever-changing relationship with the conditions around it.

COMFORT

The familiar meaning

Freedom from discomfort.

Let's look again.

What if comfort is the feeling of being held safely enough to meet life? Sometimes we need softness, shelter, familiarity and predictability. We also need movement, challenge, wonder and the unfamiliar. A life organised around avoiding discomfort or effort can become smaller and less alive. Perhaps the deepest comfort gives us a safe place from which to meet life's challenges.

A HomeBeing definition:

Comfort is the experience of enough support to relax, regain balance and remain engaged.

NEED

The familiar meaning

Something necessary or strongly desired.

Let's look again.

We often begin designing by thinking about objects: which sofa do I need? What colour should the walls be? What should I buy? But what if we began with life instead? How do I want to feel here? What do I need in order to rest, connect, move, create, play, retreat or belong? When we begin with human needs, design becomes less about arranging objects and more about creating conditions in which life can flourish.

A HomeBeing definition:

A need is something life asks its surroundings to help fulfil.

Explore all content