Facebook greeted me today with the following meme.
Thing is, I think Pandora gets a bad rap. One of the first earthbound humans, she came into possession of a box, made by Zeus, given to her by her brother. The box conatined sickness, death and all sorts of other unspecified evils. Pandora was told not to open the box. She did, and all the bad came out in the world - and Pandora has had a bad name ever since. (And don't get me started on Cassandra - she got a bum steer too).
Pandora's box is synonymous with being given a gift which is really something you never one. It's often quoted in business circles as the thing you open before all hell breaks loose - this is done normally in hindsight.
Pandora was a favourite subject for many an artist. The above was painted by Rosetti. Other Pre-Raphaelites loved her. A woman scorned. A woman doomed. Such empathy for the girl who wronged the world so badly.
And the thing that people normally forget is that there were two things left in Pandora's Box once all the horrors of the world left the box. Those two things were hope and opportunity.
I ponder this year and the terrors we've been subjected to. The Fires, the floods, being stuck at home just to keep safe. It feels like this last four months has been going on for two years.
But what gives me some grounds to be cheerful. Maybe, just maybe, if we go back to Pandora's box, have another look, maybe we should dig out the hope and opportunity, use this year to start doing things differently, maybe start to use this as a fresh start.
I know it's scary. Hope and opportunity are very scary things in their own right. Misuse either one and you fall down in a crying heap. Don't have them in your life and you never move forward.
It's an eternal paradox.
Today's Song: (Brought to you by the 30 Day Song Challenge)
Day 16: A Song that's a classic favourite.
Thing is, I think Pandora gets a bad rap. One of the first earthbound humans, she came into possession of a box, made by Zeus, given to her by her brother. The box conatined sickness, death and all sorts of other unspecified evils. Pandora was told not to open the box. She did, and all the bad came out in the world - and Pandora has had a bad name ever since. (And don't get me started on Cassandra - she got a bum steer too).
Pandora's box is synonymous with being given a gift which is really something you never one. It's often quoted in business circles as the thing you open before all hell breaks loose - this is done normally in hindsight.
Pandora was a favourite subject for many an artist. The above was painted by Rosetti. Other Pre-Raphaelites loved her. A woman scorned. A woman doomed. Such empathy for the girl who wronged the world so badly.
And the thing that people normally forget is that there were two things left in Pandora's Box once all the horrors of the world left the box. Those two things were hope and opportunity.
I ponder this year and the terrors we've been subjected to. The Fires, the floods, being stuck at home just to keep safe. It feels like this last four months has been going on for two years.
But what gives me some grounds to be cheerful. Maybe, just maybe, if we go back to Pandora's box, have another look, maybe we should dig out the hope and opportunity, use this year to start doing things differently, maybe start to use this as a fresh start.
I know it's scary. Hope and opportunity are very scary things in their own right. Misuse either one and you fall down in a crying heap. Don't have them in your life and you never move forward.
It's an eternal paradox.
Today's Song: (Brought to you by the 30 Day Song Challenge)
Day 16: A Song that's a classic favourite.
No comments:
Post a Comment