I recently read an old New Yorker article where writers talk about their favorite words. I didn’t know this was a thing that people even had favorite words. However, I guess anything can be a thing if you make it one. So I’m making this a thing. Every once in a while I’ll talk about a word like I particularly like or even possibly love and explore it. The first entry none other than…Enchanted.

Enchanted – adjective

the act of being filled with delight; charmed.

I also love the word charmed, but that’s another entry for another day. I first became aware of the word enchanted because of the film Enchanted (2007) with Amy Adams. It sounded pretty, can a word sound pretty? Well if a word could sound pretty it would definitely be enchanted. But that’s not how I fell in love with word that would come two years later with a little song called Enchanted by a little artist named Taylor Swift…

I must say my 7 year old self had good taste in music because I very much still love this song and the word Enchanted itself. It’s pretty perfect that such a beautiful word would be attached to such a beautiful song. I associate the word Enchanted so much with the song Enchanted that whenever I read or hear the word enchanted I think of this magical song. My love of the word is forever connected for my love of the song. They will both be forever intertwined with each other.

I think the reason I love the word Enchanted isn’t just because of how pretty it sounds or even the positive meaning it has. It’s because it reminds me of simpler times in life. Like I stated earlier, I discovered the song Enchanted when I was 7 and it has been a part of the soundtrack of my life as the years have followed. I get nostalgic hearing the word, there’s so much that is rooted in it.

This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go
I’m wonder-struck, blushing all the way home
I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you

The lingering question kept me up, 2 a.m., who do you love?
I wonder ’til I’m wide awake
Now I’m pacing back and forth, wishing you were at my door
I’d open up and you would say
It was enchanting to meet you
All I know is I was enchanted to meet you

Taylor sings about the joy of meeting someone that you immediately are infatuated with, but she worried that he may be interested in someone else. As a 7-year old, I didn’t play any attention to that at all, all I knew was that I really liked the whimsical melody the song had. I didn’t relate to any of that, I promise that is the last thing you’re worrying about when you’re 7. However, 9 years later and I can connect with the song more than before because I have been through experiences like this for myself now where I have been enchanted by someone not romantically, but just interested in. The word enchanted itself fills me with joy because it reminds me of people and experiences that have once enchanted me and there’s not a better feeling than that.

What’s your relationship with the word enchanted, if there is any? Have you ever been enchanted by someone or something? If so, how did that experience make you feel? Share in the comments, I would love to know.