By Labs Et Quinces
Whether one believes in fate, or The Fates, is irrelevant. One inescapable scientific principle – in fact, the second law of thermodynamics – is that disorder always increases with time. In physics, this represents the unavailability of thermal energy to manifest as mechanical work. For the classicist, it refers to chaos: a lack of order or predictability and a gradual decline into disorder.
The world works in cycles
How often does one hear parents say ‘Oh, I remember that song when it was first released in 19 blah blah’, or ‘Yes, I remember when that was first in fashion thirty-odd years ago.’ A particular favourite saying of my mother – which fails to illustrate the point I am trying to make but always amuses me – is ‘I remember when polo mints were 2d a packet’. Well, I think it unlikely that we will ever see the return to old pence, and I doubt that deflation will bring down the price of confectionery, but my point is that the world works in cycles.
In explaining the origins of the universe, the ancient Greeks tell us that the universe started with Chaos. Whether or not Chaos was a divine being or state, we do not know, but conjured by some sort of chaotic hiccup, the cosmos was born. It is interesting to note that the word cosmos in Greek means ‘everything that is the case’. This was a time before time began. No one had set the clock ticking. From Chaos sprung the Primordial Deities, and when these coupled to create all the gods, heroes and monsters we recognise from mythology, something extraordinary happened. Time began. And with this ticking clock, entropy.
Returning to Chaos
In the same way that once flowering, fruit-bearing vegetation now in a compost heap degrades to become part of the fabric of the atmosphere, so, when our sun explodes, and takes every particle of our world with it, we will return to Chaos.
Sometimes, Chaos visits us too soon and we are not ready for the disorder it brings. We have to fight against it. It is a struggle, and one, sadly, that not everybody wins. The movement to recognise and accept mental illness is growing momentum but, as is so often the case, the individual takes second place to commerce. We – and I include myself in this – often find it hard to put our hands on our hearts and accept conditions which we cannot see. You cannot fake a broken leg, right? But, how often is stress or depression dismissed as a ‘get out clause?’
I dislike those motivational statements posted and re-posted on social media (typically on a backdrop of butterflies or sunsets). But, I saw one yesterday that resonated with me. To paraphrase, I read…
I’m faking being sick? You must be confused because what I am actually doing is faking being well. I don’t talk about my symptoms or when I am not feeling well, and I put on a happy face because that is what you have told me you want to see.
Any idiot can fake being sick, but it takes a real talent to appear to function well when you are breaking inside and disorder takes over.
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