The bottom line: Inviting serendipity to join the party felt scary. Like coming upon an edge. The edge of not knowing. Would anything come, or not? But then again, we don’t ever k n o w what we’re getting into, do we?
Inviting serendipity to join the party, in the form of the monthly tankespjärn-community Zoom for January. She did not fail me nor us, as the topic of the session emerged quickly in the shape of the wonderfully invocative word of INVOCATION. There’s grandeur to that word, the meaning of which is to call upon, to appeal to.
What can be invoked?
Silence.
Magic.
Rain or sun (what is a rain- or sundance, other than an invocation?).
Inspiration (Homer invokes the muse in The Odyssey:
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story…).
Our better nature.
New beginnings.
Tradition.
The law.
A call from within.
A call from without.
Invoking something or other, I am calling something to me, and even though a lot of what comes to mind seem fairly religious in orientation, or at least belief-centered, I am certain there is not a person out there who hasn’t invoked higher forces to intervene, upon misplacing house-keys, or trying to remember what section of the underground parking lot the car was parked in, or [insert your own experience].
As the conversation meandered past the weird sister of MacBeth and the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, across Inshallah, Mashalla and Mañana mañana onto othering and naming people we dislike something derogatory, we landed in the important and tricky territory of identity, labels/labelling, and how humans are hardwired to group any and all.
Identity.
What do I identify with? Why? How?
What’s the difference when it is me identifying as something or other or someone else identifying me thus?
Labels, used to invoke unity, or division?
What labels do I identify with? And are they always true, or just in the moment?
The difficulty of separating the person and the action.
The bully, or the bullying.
Complex.
Simple.
Both and.
Not either or. Both and.
I think this is what I would call… human.
And we are not perfect.
But we can notice, and then change.
It’s hard, but it is also what makes us human – IMPERFECT.