The Thinking Woman - Words From Out Of The Blue

As I search for guidance in this time of trouble, I remember another time when I could not see, but found my way I listen to forty rhythmic footsteps of the ten huskies ahead and dogsled runners swishing beneath my feet over soft, silent new snow.  A wind song whispers to the trees. I grip the sled tighter and lean forward, straining to make out striding sleddogs in the snowy, moonlit night, but it’s no use. The lamp on my head reflects twinkling beams from the white crystals into my eyes, and I cannot see through the heavy wet flakes filling the space between us. We are far from home. The forest creaks with silence. I am blinded in the snow cloaked darkness. In frustration, I switch off the artificial light. Darkness surrounds me only for a moment before transforming into a comfortable companion.   Outlines of dogs against luminescent snow come into view, and I catch the flash of loyal eyes dancing back as if to applaud me for figuring it out, this new way to see. T...

  Decimus Junius Juvenalis (Juvenal) was a snarky Roman poet who lived in the year 100AD. How do I know he was snarky? Because he wrote satire, actually, The Satires, which are a collection of 16 poems. In the most famous, Satire VI, Juvenal rails on against women. He seems to hate them and writes that he would "prefer a prostitute for a wife since virtuous women are often arrogant. A good wife is a rara avis, like a black swan." At that time, black swans were thought not to exist. They were considered outside the realm of possibility, and for Juvenal, so was a good wife. So, while Juvenal was probably a 'real peach' to hang out with and we are glad he lived 2000 years ago in Rome instead of today in the house next door, the metaphor stuck. Black Swan was adopted as the description of a life-changing, unpredictable event outside the realm of expectation and predictability. Today, economists talk about Black Swan events often and consider them catastrophic from the...