“May you live in interesting times” is an English expression that is claimed to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. The expression is ironic: “interesting” times are usually times of trouble. Every time I hear it, I think … or pray, “Please, God … NO. I’ve had enough interesting times lately to last a lifetime.”
Despite being so common in English as to be known as the “Chinese curse,” the saying is apocryphal, and no actual Chinese source has ever been produced.
Despite the phrase being widely attributed as a Chinese curse, there is no known equivalent expression in Chinese. The nearest related Chinese expression translates as “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos.” With THAT I wholeheartedly agree and that poor old dog seems a lot better off than humans have been lately. Rather than face another moment of chaos, I’d just as soon lie down with dogs for a while and to heck with that other old saying, “If you lie down with dogs, you will surely get up with fleas.” While annoying, fleas aren’t all that bad when stacked up against a whole bunch of human chaos. I rest my case ….
After what seems like a never-ending pre-election political season, last week the US finally held its presidential election. Sorely divided, US citizens were bombarded with nights and days and evenings and weekends filled with hateful rhetoric, lies, and an atmosphere at once filled with the relief of promise followed again by division and hate. I haven’t recognized this country.
The election results have been frightening to nearly half of us in this country and I am fearful. I had hoped for a kinder world in which our 3-yrear-old grandson could grow up and prosper. Now I can’t imagine what lies ahead for us, let alone what is ahead for him. The election has been a life-altering experience and I felt the weight of it on my shoulders and on my heart like nothing I’ve experienced – because I love this country. I began by labeling it depression until I realized it was grief, the depth of which I hadn’t known. It has been difficult.
Through conversations and support from friends who are living this nightmare with me we realize that we are where we are and there’s little we can do to change it right now. We are currently and definitely NOT dogs in times of tranquility, with no thanks to that Chinese curse. I appreciate the humor we are able to find in each other and share, and the comfort and relief it brings to all of us.
I have tried to remind myself that while the opposing party is celebrating and excited with the election outcome, whether they are aware of it or not, none of us really know what’s ahead, even if we think we do. With that realization comes that old Chinese curse chuckling at all of us just around the corner.
Not to make this post a downer, I guess I just have to talk about the rest of this week and the sadness that came with it in an unexpected place.
For several years my husband and I have enjoyed having breakfast in our sunroom looking out onto the back yard. We fell in love with our neighbor’s little cat as she almost daily hunted in the woods behind our house … hunting and stalking moles, capturing them and running through the woods with them in her mouth … taking them home and leaving them on her family’s front porch We came to appreciate her enthusiasm for her pastime and the skill with which she executed it. My husband began calling her our little ‘moler’ and she became a delightful fixture in the yard and in our hearts.
Friday morning my husband found our little ‘moler’, obviously victim of some sort of accident, dead underneath our porch. He notified our neighbor who said they didn’t want their younger children to know. And so, my husband volunteered to manage ‘Moler’s’ after care. We both cried. For me, and most likely for him, too, it was that one extra straw added to the pile already on my back and the dam broke.
Willy took her to the woods, dug a small grave for her and buried her gently, respectfully and with care. She deserved nothing less as a gesture of appreciation … and affection … for all the hours of joy we’d found watching her. He marked her grave with a rock and planted a spindly tree above her small body … in the spot where she had found so many hours of delight stalking moles.
In the midst of all the human chaos, that loving attention from Willy for someone else’s pet and finding just the place for her where she had enjoyed so many sunny mornings, was a huge positive for us, even in our sorrow … as love so often is.
As the week has progressed our non-profit club’s committee members spent 3 days reading and judging essay entries in our Space Camp Contest that we sponsor annually in local middle schools. The winner of the contest enjoys a week at NASA’s Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. This year’s winner, a 13-year-old girl, will have a chance to enjoy an incredible learning and life-changing experience. Seeing these kids and hearing them talk about that amazing week after they return home makes my heart happy and I always say to myself, “WE did this” … (And somewhere I believe God is whispering, “And that’s good.”)
Probably the most chaotic week I remember in a long time with enough interesting times to last 6 lifetimes, HAS had some good. I’ve just had to look for it. Mostly it’s just been life … at its best and at its most chaotic.
The words of Kamala Harris also give us hope and sustain us … we will get through this and there IS light behind the clouds. Keep reaching for that light. We can DO this, even if it’s difficult. Because that’s what we do.
How we survive that ancient Chinese curse is, I believe, a measure of our character. Maybe we aren’t meant to be tranquil puppies in this life but are meant to march through the chaos beating our individual drums TOGETHER with determination.
We really don’t need to spend too much time languishing in a tranquil bed. After a while those damned fleas are just annoying.
heimdalco 