Tag Archives: Random

Cooking with contretemps

Let’s play make believe.

Make believe that time could be an experiment – that if only we had the right recipes, we could plot the events of our lives, make plans without anyone laughing.

I have this pre-, self-made belief that I can make motion: that I can make anything.

But it’s based just as much on the understanding of my own limitations, on the reality that there are no instructions and that even if there were, not everything will always go according to plan. I’d do better to remind myself, too, that the always possible possibility of failure isn’t necessarily because of something I lack (unless we’re talking about luck. Anyone can severely lack that).

Sometimes (oftentimes), in anything anyone makes, there’s a contretemps: a hurdle; an inopportune, unforeseen circumstance; a happening of shit, or a “motion out of time.”

Take your pick of definition. But let me take this moment to invent an antonym.

We can try as hard as we want to make a “pourtemps”: to hedge our bets with as many opportune, advantageous, self-designed events we want; to make such good prophecies, it’s almost like we made them.

But when we most feel like we can counter one, what we’re more likely to end up with is a ‘contre.’

That or just a steaming pot of disappointment.

 

Non-oriented

Aren’t origins supposed to be important? Most times, isn’t where we start supposed to determine where we end?

When I actually take the time to feel out my thoughts I find that most of them are circles. And when they don’t feel circular, I re-orient my points so they eventually connect.

Some shapes are still outstanding, of course. I have some wonky lines and jutted sides, plenty of jagged edges. I think for everyone, it’s common to have these incongruous decisions–shapes that are periodically morphed, or still being created.

Most times, my goal is a solid geometry, and most times, that’s what I eventually achieve. But there is the occasional exception.

Even if I wish for things always to make sense, and to follow the intended course of action, that’s not always what ends up happening. Even if I traverse all the right points, go from A to B to C, sometimes I skip letters, go back to others, end prematurely. Sometimes the plot collapses.

And maybe that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

There’s no dictate except what I create for myself to end things where I started. And who knows–I might be surprised and end up more satisfied with something “non-orientable” than the usual circles I try to result in.