V is a weird letter. Honestly, think about it. It’s sharp, it’s aggressive, and it carries this strange weight that other letters just don't have. If you look at the alphabet, most letters are soft or round, but V sits there like a literal wedge, splitting things apart. It’s the Roman numeral for five. It’s the sign for victory. It’s also the start of some of the most complex, beautiful, and sometimes frustrating things in our daily lives.
We don't talk about it enough. When we look at things starting with V, we’re usually looking at a mix of high-end luxury, deep biological processes, or literal voids. It’s a letter of extremes. You have the velvet texture of a high-end sofa and the violent eruption of a tectonic plate. There isn't much middle ground here.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why this specific category of objects and concepts feels so distinct. Maybe it’s because V wasn't even its own thing for a long time—historically, it was interchangeable with U. But now? It’s the MVP of the vocabulary world.
The Velocity of Modern Life
Speed. That’s usually the first thing that hits you. Velocity isn't just a fancy word for speed, though people use it that way all the time. In physics, velocity is a vector. It needs a direction. If you’re going 100 miles per hour in a circle, your speed is constant, but your velocity is constantly changing. This is a nuance most people miss when they're talking about business "velocity" or growth. You can move fast and still get absolutely nowhere if you’re just spinning your wheels.
Look at the V-2 rocket. It’s a grim example, but historically significant. Developed by Wernher von Braun, it was the first long-range guided ballistic missile. It literally touched the edge of space before anything else did. It’s a "thing starting with V" that changed the world, for better or worse, leading directly to the Apollo moon landings. That’s the V energy—intense, directional, and often a bit scary.
Then you have Vesper. Most people think of the James Bond drink—the Vesper Martini. Kinda cool, right? Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice. It’s named after Vesper Lynd, the only woman Bond truly loved, which adds this layer of melancholy to a simple cocktail. But "vesper" actually just means evening in Latin. It’s a transition. It’s that blue hour when the light starts to fail and things get quiet.
Vanilla is Actually the Most Complex Flavor
Stop calling things vanilla when you mean they're boring. It’s factually wrong.
Vanilla is the fruit of an orchid. Specifically, the Vanilla planifolia. It is one of the most labor-intensive crops on the planet. Each flower stays open for only twenty-four hours and must be hand-pollinated. If you miss that window, no bean. Then, after harvest, the beans have to be cured, dried, and wrapped in blankets to "sweat" for months to develop that characteristic aroma.
The chemical compound vanillin is what we're usually tasting in cheap ice cream, but real vanilla has over 250 different flavor components. It’s smoky, floral, earthy, and spicy. Boring? Not even close. It’s expensive for a reason. Madagascar produces the bulk of the world’s supply, and when a cyclone hits the SAVA region, the global price of things starting with V—specifically vanilla—skyrockets. We saw this in 2017 and 2018 when prices topped $600 per kilogram, making it more valuable by weight than silver at the time.
Volcanos and the Vibe of Destruction
We have to talk about Volcanoes. They are the literal vents of the Earth.
When Mount Vesuvius blew in 79 AD, it didn't just kill people; it froze a moment in time. Most people think the residents of Pompeii were suffocated by ash. That's part of it, but many were actually killed by pyroclastic surges—huge clouds of hot gas and rock moving at hundreds of miles per hour. It’s instantaneous.
But volcanoes aren't just about death. They’re the reason we have fertile soil. They’re the reason we have islands like Hawaii or Iceland. They are creative destruction in its purest form. Geologists like Dr. Janine Krippner have done amazing work explaining that we shouldn't fear volcanoes, but we should definitely respect the "V" factor they bring to the landscape. They are unpredictable. They are vibrant.
The Vulnerability Loop
In the world of psychology and leadership, vulnerability is the big one.
Brené Brown basically built an empire explaining that vulnerability isn't weakness. It’s the opposite. It’s the courage to show up when you can't control the outcome. In her research at the University of Houston, she found that people who have a strong sense of love and belonging are the ones who believe they are worthy of it. They’re the ones willing to be "V" words—vulnerable.
It’s a weird paradox. We want other people to be vulnerable with us, but we’re terrified of being vulnerable ourselves. We see it as a "thing starting with V" that we’d rather keep in a box. But without it, you don't get innovation or creativity. You just get a bunch of people wearing masks, trying to look perfect.
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Vertigo and the Physicality of Space
Have you ever stood at the edge of a tall building and felt that weird pull? That’s not just a fear of heights. Vertigo is a specific medical sensation where you feel like you or your surroundings are spinning.
It’s often caused by issues in the inner ear—the vestibular system. There it is again. That "V" word.
The Vestibular system is what keeps you upright. It’s a tiny set of organs in your ear that detects gravity and motion. When it breaks, your whole world tilts. It’s one of those things you never notice until it stops working, and then it’s the only thing you can think about. It’s the invisible V that dictates your entire relationship with the ground.
Vaccines: The Ultimate V-Word Debate
Let’s get into the heavy stuff. Vaccines.
The word comes from variolae vaccinae, or "pustules of the cow." Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids didn't get smallpox because they’d already had cowpox. He took some pus from a cowpox lesion and poked it into a young boy named James Phipps.
It sounds insane by modern standards. It was insane. But it worked.
Smallpox used to kill millions. Now? It’s gone. Eradicated. It’s one of the greatest triumphs of human intelligence over biological randomness. Yet, the "V" word—Vaccine—is now a lightning rod for political and social identity. It shows how a single letter can represent both the peak of scientific achievement and the peak of social friction.
Vacuum: The Science of Nothing
What is a vacuum? Most people think it’s an empty space.
In reality, a perfect vacuum is almost impossible to achieve. Even in the deepest reaches of interstellar space, there are still a few atoms of hydrogen floating around. On Earth, we use vacuums for everything from lightbulbs to thermos flasks to high-energy particle accelerators.
If you take a Vacuum flask (a Dewar flask), it works because heat has a hard time traveling through nothing. No air molecules means no conduction or convection. Your coffee stays hot because it’s surrounded by a tiny bit of nothingness. It’s a simple "thing starting with V" that we take for granted every morning.
The Versatility of Vinyl
Vinyl is back. Why? Because it’s tactile.
In an age where everything is a digital file on a cloud server somewhere in Northern Virginia, people want something they can hold. Vinyl records aren't technically superior in audio quality—digital can reproduce a wider dynamic range—but they have a "warmth." That warmth is actually just harmonic distortion caused by the needle moving through the groove, but we love it anyway.
Vinyl is short for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It’s a plastic. It’s used for pipes, flooring, and those vintage records. It’s one of the most versatile materials we’ve ever made. It’s cheap, it’s durable, and it happens to look great spinning at 33 and a third RPM.
Valuable Lessons from the V-List
If you’re looking to apply the "V" energy to your life, there are a few practical ways to do it. It’s not just about knowing facts; it’s about the mindset.
- Audit your Velocity: Stop checking your speed and start checking your direction. Are you moving fast toward a goal, or just moving fast?
- Embrace your Vulnerability: In your next meeting or conversation, try being 10% more honest about what you don't know. It usually builds more trust than pretending you’re an expert.
- Appreciate the Vanilla: Look for the complexity in things that seem "plain." There’s usually a massive amount of effort behind the scenes of the simplest objects.
- Check your Vestibular health: If you’re feeling dizzy or off-balance, don't ignore it. Your inner ear is a delicate "V" system that needs care.
V is the letter of the underdog and the victor. It’s the valley and the volcano. It’s a reminder that life is rarely a flat line—it’s a sharp, pointed, and deeply interesting journey.
Next time you see something starting with V, take a second to look closer. There’s probably a lot more going on than you think. From the Vessels in your heart to the Values you hold dear, it’s the letter that keeps things moving. Focus on the direction, not just the speed. Respect the nothingness of the vacuum and the intensity of the volcano. That’s how you handle the V-list.