‽istis reclaims the old
year (weekending
January 2nd 2021)
20:20,
perfect vison; the wonders of hindsight[i]… and the apparent conclusion
from so many commentators, editorials and ‘op-ed’ pieces? Perhaps a year
like no other!
Except
‽istis wonders (the other sort of wonder) whether 2020 - in many
respects - possibly, perhaps, may not prove to be a year pretty much like oh so
many of those that proceeded it? ‽istis pauses as the pubs and community
halls remain shut, as the few fireworks valiantly flare, as the streets of
towns are subdued - to reflect on themes that have somewhat preoccupied the
2020 blog entries, the ponderings of recent years – perhaps nearly a lifetime of
wondering:
‽ whether perhaps the ‘excess deaths’ (a phrase
that perhaps diminishes and distracts from the utterly unique lives and loves, families
and friends, the left and bereft, the miraculous taken-for-granted ordinariness
or the achievements on stages domestic or public) also at least remind us that
every year for every single one of us it is always ‘when’ and ‘how’, sooner or
later; never, ever ‘if’?
‽ whether possibly the seemingly broken
promises (based possibly on expressions of unfounded optimism; even bubbling somewhat
inevitably up from hubris, exceptionalism and a sense of entitlement; even based
for some on a public parade of confidence over competence), the best guesses, the
change of tack, the ‘U-turns’, the reappraisals in the face of rapidly
developing circumstances and fresh evidence – serve to remind us that jazz
extemporising, making it up, muddling through, not quite knowing what one is
doing - is more the norm in every year?
‽ whether maybe in every year, those who generally
‘have’ will more than likely generally thrive; that attribution theory will probably
continue to justify ‘me’ and judge ‘you’; that friends will likely benefit;
that power mixed with prejudice will generally, systemically and individually turn
in to discrimination, oppression, denial, exclusion?
‽ whether perhaps in every year, the
essential workers are always essential; just more or less recognised?
‽ whether possibly in every year, none of us are
really safe unless everyone is safe; that our fates are connected, if not quite
collective; that we are probably in the same storm but maybe in different boats;
that the way ‘you’ (singular and often plurally for groups of people
geographically or in communities of interest) die may be linked directly or
indirectly to the way ‘I’ or ‘we’ (perhaps in communities of often-disinterest)
live?
‽ whether maybe in every year it is the personal
connections, the opportunities to meet with others; to be entertained, to entertain,
to suspend disbelief; to gather, to commune, to laugh and cry, to hug and hold
and touch - that keep us going?
‽ …and you
might add your own variations on this theme of similarity within difference and
difference within similarity[ii]…?
And
so ‽istis wonders whether
·
if we thought of this past year as perhaps, possibly, maybe not so
different to previous years (save for any revelations about the similarities
not the differences, about long-term trends and narratives and meta-narratives,
about age-old questions of how to ‘be’ and how to value and how to live,
together)
·
if we challenged a little more the resigned ‘it is what it is-ness’
…might
we just imagine a little more how different the world could be?
©
Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme
and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily
indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders
[i] …and
wonders why hindsight seems so often to be wonderous/wonderful…
[ii] A
critical focus of ponderance for a researcher…? Discuss
