Pieces of me
Arthur Brash | February 17, 2010 | 11:08When I was a child, I’ve cut up a picture into a puzzle. When that was done, I reassembled the pieces, and then cut them into ever smaller bits for a tougher challenge. My father warned me that the pieces I’m making will be too small to be ever put together again.
I tried long and hard but never did manage to prove him wrong.
Father never did have any words of wisdom that stuck, and in that way he remains a hollow being. But as I look around me, I’m struck by a notion that perhaps I’m again cutting things into pieces too small to ever form a proper whole – only this time I’m cutting apart my essence.
“And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
Luckily, we are made of tougher material than eggshell and yolk… Like a gas that is compressible, and will expand or compress to fit any size container, your essence cannot be subtracted or divided. Fragmented, perhaps; but like a marionette, it’s simply about making all the parts and all the pieces move together, in harmony.
Eloquent writing.
Brother, if you have yet to prove him wrong and are quoting him here and now, how is it that he never had any words of wisdom?
bc: although you’re right in the literal sense, – there are no real parts to dissect, and then put back together – it’s the best i could describe the feeling. and words are so inadequate when it comes to feelings. :)
jordan: thank you!
ml: i was wondering when someone would call me on the inconsistency. :) but the more i thought about it, the more i was sure that “don’t make too many pieces of this picture” is not the kind of thing people think of when it comes to fatherly life advice that sticks. :)