They Also Serve Who Only Stand And Wait
Who knows what sign from above Milton was standing and waiting for* when he wrote those immortal words.
But let’s be real: At my age, I spend a lot more time sitting and waiting. And while I try to take a stoic outlook towards such things — definitely a benefit to my mental health and general happiness — I will admit that depending on the importance of the thing one is waiting for, stoicism can be difficult.**
I have the great fortune to live in a comfortable house with an Internet connexion and a partner I love, thus making the prospect of passing time not an unpleasant one. The result is that awaiting good things is a fardel*** easily borne. But awaiting a cessation of awfulness remains, well, awful. And it is in that spirit that I present my latest Godot-adjacent column:
Waiting For Ceasefire – a tragicomedy in one act
If it’s not too much of a fardel****, give it a read — it’s surprisingly short given how much bleak despair it packs in!
.
.
.
* Probably the return of his stapler.
** Stoicism can be difficult regardless, but one must of course attempt to face such difficulties stoically.
*** Next time someone asks, “who would these fardels bear”, you can just pipe up and say, “Pretty sure I read a blogpost by a writer who happily bears some fardels.”
**** I’m trying to be literary by writing about fardels instead of fartels, which is the more usual humor writer topic. Also, let’s bring “fardels” back into the common parlance.*****
***** Also also, let’s bring “the common parlance” back into the common parlance.