As I skipped off to work today, donning a minty green vintage confection with a daisy chain delicately sewn around her collar, I started to think about the things in the universe that connect us. By definition, a “daisy chain” is simply a string of daisies threaded together by their stems. In engineering, a daisy chain is a term to describe a wiring scheme where multiple devices are wired together in sequence (used for good and occasional cyber-evil). And in medicine, I’ve heard it used to describe a series of organ transplants involving one matched donor. But they’re all meant to imply connection – pulling together seemingly disparate piece of information, places, or things. Finding meaning where there wasn’t. Turning strangers into inseparable, sometimes unknowing, partners.
There are a stack of cosmic forces that we use to rationalize life’s happenings – fate, karma, inertia, inevitability. Despite the fact that we probably curl up in these terms like a security blanket, hoping for something to hold onto to explain for why things are the way they are, sometimes you can’t help but wonder if there really is some force carrying you through life’s eventualities. Something gluing it all together.
I was having a conversation recently with one of my favorite bloggers Miss Amy May about how much we fret over lateness. As one of life’s punctual people, it got me thinking: Say for the sake of argument that life isn’t essentially random and that the people and things are crossing my path exist in some massive web of “meant to be.” If I wasn’t perpetually on time for everything (or let’s face it, 5 minutes early), would I be a somehow different? Is the 10-minutes-later Kara a bit brasher, a bit bolder, a bit less task-oriented and a bit more laid back? Could I connect with entirely different people? Have completely different experiences? Is it possible to alter the cosmic forces that weave together these supposed predetermined events that essentially make me, me?
No deep thoughts before coffee…
This month is definitely one for big thoughts and trying to figure out the meaning of things. I’m waiting on a pretty big grant that is going to be very telling of my job security for the next several years. The decision was made back in June, but it’ll only be announced this month. So, the great irony is that my future really has already been determined. The decision on the grant has already been made – I just don’t get to know the outcome yet (little buggers). Although I’m not even sure I believe that everything happens for a reason, I suppose I still find myself reaching for that security blanket. The que sera sera of it all. The belief that those daisies have already been carefully tied together. Maybe that’s why we all do it – because believing it’s all predetermined makes it a bit easier to relinquish control, as if we never had it in the first place.
This is definitely more of a random passing thought than a full blown existential crisis, but sometimes I need to believe that there’s some sort of order in the chaos. To feel that, while I’m hurdling through life at about 90 miles a second, trying to make sure the house is clean and the bills are paid and the occasional pair of sparkly strappy sandals is procured, that there is something steering my path. Or at the very least, that this crazy path I’m on has a purpose, even if I don’t know it yet.
Anyone else pondering the meaning of life on a Friday?
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: Push Pin Vintage (similar modern or vintage here, here & here)
Belt: Gift, Alannah Hill (similar here & here)
Gloves: Mo-Mo’s Vintage (similar here & here)
Brooch: Raleigh Vintage (similar here & here)
Handbag: Alannah Hill (similar here & here)
Shoes: Chinese Laundry (similar here, here & here)
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