Triage, Part II
After yesterday's anguish about my alarm clock and kitchen timer, I have to sound a fair and balanced note in favor of my sugar bowl. My relationship with the things around me is usually a genial one, if you were wondering.
It's a simple affair, the bowl. A stainless steel Bodem with a shiny lid and a dedicated spoon that could double as a sleek medical device. I filled it yesterday with turbinado sugar, licorice-y and crunchy.
This morning, I looked at my modest dining table, glowing in the Seattle sun. Looked inside the sugar bowl, and was delighted beyond reason. Goofy; but does that delight differ in kind from any other joy? I always think of Eeyore putting his popped birthday ballon into his empty birthday jar of honey. Easily the happiest I remember seeing him.
Why does such a miniscule, irrational part of any life have such weight? I have a vague sense that my reaction was mechanically similar to that of a well-constructed joke. How did I set up this emotional punchline to work so well? Can I learn the form? No answers, but I think that I'm onto something, something other than sweeter coffee for my friends.
posted by Phil @ 4:18 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I don't think we should question those moments of delight and joy. They are gifts, and who cares the source? Reminds me of a line in Bellow's Herzog, something about how life is unexpected moments of beauty.
Symbolically I think somehow it marked a special place in your life, maybe a celebration of it. Which might be huge. You are the only one who truly knows its meaning. In an art sense you when out and very carefully made the decision to buy this object, a defining of who you are. In an emotional sense you chose a special container for your cherished daily ritual. The symbolic meaning of a container is enormous and deeply personal, usually for uncontrolled thoughts, feelings, and memories. The sugar bowl and the spoon both contain and regulate, the exquisite sweetness you share with your friends. Defining the meaning will give you a lifetime of pleasure, and will help you move in the direction of surrounding yourself with meaning over and over again.
Added thought:
Usually a ritual celebration honors and marks a passage through a threshold of change. Externalizing it makes it become conscious and usable.
Post a Comment
<< Home