I was in the habit of drinking my morning coffee from a very attractive René (Rennie?) Mackintosh rose-style china mug, (9th one down, Blue Kintyre) which, like so much in my kitchen, was a present from my sister. The word "Evasé" comes to mind, curving outwards to be wider at the top, giving a larger surface for the hot liquid to cool, reminiscent of the way champagne glasses used to be before it was discovered that the bubbles burst faster.
I needed clothes pegs. I went to the local ironmongers, which is the biggest store in the village. Outside urban centres people need to be able to fix things and do things themselves, I suppose. They only had plastic ones. As I head for the exit, I catch sight of an attractive china mug with roses on it. I pick it up and stand in line to pay for it, a voice in my head saying “clothes pegs. You need clothes pegs. You do not even remotely need another china mug. What are you doing?" But the instinct won and I paid for it and took it home.
The next morning I poured my hot drink into my trusty mackintosh bone china mug and it cracked open and fell apart. I had its replacement right there, waiting to be put to use.
I was totally awestruck. If only, thought I. If only life could be like that more often…
The Double bind
On Christmas day, a son receives a gift from his mother of two neckties; one red, one green. Invited to his mother's house for boxing day dinner, he wears the red tie. She greets him with “what’s wrong with the green tie I gave you, don’t you like it?”.
The only way he could have avoided this particular reaction would have been to wear both ties at once, making himself look effectively crazy.
Laing’s most famous patient was Mary Barnes, who painted this (detail):
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2 commentaires:
Oh I loved that mug of yours! Too bad it's gone... Maybe you scared it into breaking itself by buying that other one? (just kidding!)
My father once did the thing with the ties. He had got two ties from his girl-friend's two daughters as Christmas presents. He very seriously showed up at Christmas lunch wearing both of them, draped decoratively over his shoulders.
So now we have to worry about our crockery being emotionally insecure!! Interesting new perspective on the mug shot - you are lucky to be able to see things from such a different angle... :) Anything to do with the shoes you bought in Bilbao?
Your father's gesture shows he was very sensitive in English, and 'sensible' in French and English. Just goes to show, the double bind only drives you crazy if you can't find a way out.
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