Divergent Paths

LeNormand Cards

A path abruptly diverges into two undulating routes.

A bright bouquet of flowers

A clear patch of sky is encircled by a rolling mass of clouds

 

 

 


I wonder often, increasingly since the circuit breaker, about the choices I’ve made in my life. Every small nudge or gesture to every momentous decision has led me to this point where I am now, stuck in country almost three thousand kilometers away from where I call home. Is this then the chaotic unpredictability of life, where the future, no matter how clear cut it may seem to be, is always obscured, one way or another, by forces outside our control? I’d like to think that humans have free will, but with the pandemic hitting us like a thunderbolt out of the sky as how Oedipus was struck down at the prime of his life, we are reminded of our own insignificance and vulnerability. But perhaps this pessimistic, deterministic view of life is missing the small pleasures that remind ourselves of the joy of living. Yes, with the pandemic, we are separated. But doesn’t that make each real conversation ever the more valuable, each meeting of a friend ever the more striking? There may be moments like these, like small bouquets of flowers, around every corner, waiting for us to happen upon them.

One Response

  1. CBH at |

    That’s a beautiful way to look at things, Anthony –

    the gifts that surprise us

    surrounded by choices and mystery

    Nice!

    Reply

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