Kunisada Utagawa: Writing examination (1810 - 1830)

Just Trending Toward Something
If I'm witnessing a revolution, it certainly seems to be an awfully ham-handed one. I'm reminded of how a gorilla might go about disassembling something he doesn't understand. He resorts to muted brute force, not knowing what might cause the thing to open. He dents the case and ultimately gets defeated by tiny screws, the operation of which seems too subtle for him to comprehend. Almost every move has been thwarted by the courts. Appeals have likewise proven fruitless. Chaos has resulted. I won't argue that chaos doesn't produce its own effects, though they tend to be something other than structural. They might even create a more substantial structure than it attempted to threaten. As chilling as many of the initiatives have seemed, they sum to deeply superficial, perhaps because they're inspired by science fiction. They rely upon non-existent principles and properties. They profoundly misunderstand human nature.

My coping and hoping (CHope) experiment got off to a typically shaky start. I didn't know what I was doing, so I set about proving it in practice. I pay scrupulous attention, hoping I might stumble upon some more coherent understanding through almost blind repetition. Each of my series has matured in just this fashion. None of them started with their ending in mind or even with more than a vague notion of what they might ultimately entail. I just headed down what looked as though it could become an interesting trail. The idea that success follows scrupulous planning largely proves false in practice. Scrupulous plans might be more encumbrance than advantage. We mostly back into our futures, adapting. Nearer the end, we might find ourselves reliably landing on both feet. The bulk of every initiative proves to be practice. Not perfect by a long run, just trending toward something.

——

Weekly Writing Summary

This CHope Story contains the first installment of a new series, my thirty-second series since I started creating series seven and three-quarters years ago. I intend this series to describe my attempts to cope with the present situation while maintaining an adequate amount of hope. I hereby declare myself incapable of cynicism, however warranted it might sometimes seem. I intend to teach myself to more satisfyingly CHope instead.

Jules Bastien-Lepage: Mower Honing a Scythe (1878)
" … and radiate enough hope to make however I cope feel worthwhile."
—
This CHope Story finds me MessSitting, engaging in apparently aimless conversation trying to gain a sense of direction. I've found this an essential activity and consider it one of my ethical responsibilities.

Jack Gould: Untitled [mess on floor of ruined apartment] (1955)
"I'm first coping with the underlying nature of the difficulty.
—
This CHope Story finds me considering the usual wages of Extortion, the primary tactic our new administration that can't seem to administer anything employs. It represents one way to get your way (or the highway) but always eventually undermines itself. It's perhaps the best way to alienate friends and create enemies.

James McNeill Whistler: The Strong Arm (1895)
"Congratulations, or something. Such are the wages Extortionists always earn."
—
This CHope Story finds me marveling at the depths this administration, uninterested in actually administering anything, remains capable of slipping into. Their reality rarely seems to qualify as believable fiction, and their fiction rarely, if never, isn't seen right through. Imagine how Insecure I feel with them in charge.

Attributed to Giuseppe Maria Crespi: Woman Looking For Fleas (c. 1715)
" … the one true sign of their underlying cowardice!"
—
This CHope Story, Equivocal, finds me sorting through what many consider to be the inherent ambiguity of our Democracy, only to find clarity there. The forces of darkness get to take their turn trying to represent the best of us, too, if only to reinspire what our founders hoped to instill in us. Consider this a rededication test we're certain to pass.

Alfred Stieglitz: Equivalent, Spiritual America (1923)
"The reigning forces of darkness have no idea what they've inspired."
—
This CHope Story, PennyWisdom, finds me finding pennies and picking them up, hoping to experience good luck all the following day. Billionaires seem to relate to pennies differently. For them, a penny not spent appears to be the most fabulous store of wealth imaginable.

Percy Billinghurst: The fool who sold wisdom. (1900)
"I wonder how our public purse might be influenced if our billionaire benefactors had ever learned to play Find A Penny, Pick It Up."
—

This writing week echoed typical first weeks spent creating another new series. However sure I might feel that I correctly chose a topic, I remain hesitant. I cannot yet quite imagine what the fresh topic means, however confident I might have felt when choosing. I typically select before achieving supreme confidence in my choice. I know of no other way to advance. Confidence rightly requires some experience. First attempts should seem perilous. I'll stumble into second chances, whatever I choose. This selection, the oddly formed CHope, confuses my computer's editor, even though I took care to teach it the misspelling before I commenced posting with it. Holes remain in my carefully crafted design, and I suspect I'll be dragging that curious spelling across the eventual finish line. I remain poorly adapted to the fresh context on which I insisted. This must be how creation works.

I began this writing week by acknowledging how I've been actively coping and just as actively hoping. Though Hope does not, by long tradition, fully qualify as a strategy or a defense, it seems to be what I have left besides my usual Coping. Why not combine the two to create the context within which this series might emerge? Why Not? I moved on into MessSitting, one of my personal ethical responsibilities, and then into Extortion, or the calling out of this distorting tactic. I admitted to feeling supremely Insecure under the curious care of our new incumbent. I pointed out that the Equivocal nature of most political events has not survived the twisted tactics of our sorry, fresh incumbent. I ended this writing week by analyzing billionaires’ curious relationship with the almighty penny in PennyWisdom. Our incumbent messed this week up. I pray that I managed to do somewhat better reporting my experience. Thank you for following along!


©2025 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #CHope , #PureSchmaltz