Whim, that fleeting point of time that can define the path to discovery or loss, success or failure, victory or defeat, and the grey ennui that blurs the edges. A succinct word, a fleeting instant when a decision is made before the idea of decision is even formed. It becomes innocent with whimsy, and lyrical and musical and playful when it becomes whimsical. [more]

It has an even more musical variation that goes back at least to Medieval and Elizabethan times. Whim-wham was a trinket or whimsical ornament for clothing. This was a time of peacockery, when excess in dress was expected for those who could afford it, men and women alike. It was both admired and ridiculed. The poets and playwrights left their eloquent opinions of whim-wham and it's wearers.

A thrumbe hat she had of red,
Like a bushel on her head.
Her kercher hung from under her cap,
With a taile like a flie flap,
And tyed it fast with a whim wham,
Knit up againe with a trim tram,
Much like an AEgiptian
     Tarlton - Cobler of Canterburie- 1590

They'll pull ye all to pieces for your whim-whams,
Your garters, and your gloves.
     Fletcher - Night Walker- 1640