“I’ve got a sinking feeling,” we say, and the people we’re with know right away that what follows won’t be good.
The defining metaphor of a sinking feeling is being on the verge of being drawn down into the depths of an all-enveloping reservoir of darkness, either by a powerful current or by an unseen creature that grasps at our ankles as we attempt to remain afloat.
To have a sinking feeling is not to drown, but to suspect that drowning may be about to begin. It’s the opposite of confidence. It’s suspense robbed of its uncertainty.
When we have a sinking feeling, we begin to come to grips with our doom before it arrives. It’s the path that leads to eerie experience, with just a hint of foreboding, the shadow of fear to come.
When we get a sinking feeling, we summon our focus for a struggle that will soon begin, without the ability to meaningfully exert ourselves, lacking anything concrete to grapple with.
