Direction (/stance) word salad

(Or: What happens when I plug “stance” and some related words into a thesaurus)

Stance. I like stance because it implies a kind of active passivity. A ready and receptive state, but with direction and orientation. An inclination, but one that’s open more than closed. It can also have a kind of implied physical, embodied, meaning. Like “go with the flow, and steer it”. Like redirecting a river a bit, not trying to dam it.

I’ve often using navigation heading or compass heading. Which I also like. But in the real world context that usually implies a destination, which I want to avoid. Wind direction is perhaps good. Wind certainly has force and direction (like a vector), but it doesn’t “go somewhere”.

Something like: Posture; Attitude; Disposition; Inclination; Orientation; Outlook.

Heading

As in: route, course.

Posture

As in: aspect, attitude, disposition, mode, bearing, pose, position.

Stance

As in: stand, slant.

Direction

As in: orientation, outlook, trend, inclination, trajectory.

Vector

As in: aim, angle, bearing, direction, trajectory, way.

Approach

As in: method, technique.

Added 2024-12-19.