Grab bag

[bililoquy]

From the Tao Te Ching, interpreted by Ursula K. Le Guin:

The way you can go
isn't the real way.
The name you can say
isn't the real name.

Heaven and earth
begin in the unnamed:
name's the mother
of the ten thousand things.

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Discussion question:
Why do stories about star-crossed figures (Oedipus, Romeo & Juliet) resonate so powerfully?

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Comments

[abulia]

we like stories where the major tragedies that befall people aren't really their fault. we like to think that maybe our failures and fuck-ups were written into our destinies long ago, and there's nothing we can do about it. if some spiteful god has already decided our future, if our parents have chosen our path for us, then when we get there, we don't have to feel the weight of responsibility. we can just wallow in self-pity.

[saraliz986]

I agree with Mary. We like to think that maybe if everything goes wrong in our lives, it isn't necessarily our fault. We also like to watch human tragedy, because on some level we're able to connect with it- it makes us feel good to know that other people's lives go wrong sometimes too and that we're not the only ones who sometimes feel like the world is out to get us. Other people know how we feel. It gives us perspective as well. For example, I'm freaking out about the term paper I have to write, but hey, at least I'm not Juliet, stabbing myself over my deal exiled husband's body in the family crypt.