I'm in an odd state the past few days, sinking often into a rather blithery state where everything seems 'lovely.' I hope this is not a sign of impending hypomania. That's the way it always takes me: I fall in love with everything, which has the further side effect of making me prettier. This is so much the case that other people will comment on it. So many odd urges but then again, I can think of at least two other possible causes for this shift in mood. All that I see at the moment is lovely, though.
It's lovely in a detached way. It's detached because it's universal and uncritical. Sometimes I think that it is the eros of which Plato speaks. It does feel more like a close intimation of an eternal form than like an affection of my accidental qualities.
Isn't that phrase wonderful? Accidental qualities: except that they're so often seen as in some way essential to an existent self - these days, at least. I do wonder. Are they? There is such a long tradition of arguing that they are not.
What was I rambling towards? Oh yes, the blithery-ness. I feel so odd that I think I might give myself the day off tomorrow. I'm not sure that that is the greatest of ideas but I think I might need it. I had a bit of an upset last night, which brought up a host of confusing feelings. Has anybody out there read 'This Side of Paridise'? I'm feeling a great affinity to Eleanor again. Wet hens having great clarity of mind, and all that.
I would like to actually do something.
The thesis is trundling along, now a week behind schedule. I want very much to put up my post about it but I haven't sufficient remaining concentration to do more than copy and paste about it. I can't do that because I have two journals I want to submit it to for publication and if I do so, then it must be previously unpublished. I'm not sure how much a personal blog counts as far as that but I'd rather not give myself the temptation to prevaricate about it or run the risk of harming my reputation.
The idea of 'run the risk' has its own verb in Greek: κινδυνεύω (kin-dune-ewo). Then there's λανθάνω (lanthano) which is to escape the notice of someone. There's another verb dedicated entirely to the idea of arriving ahead of another person: φθάνω (phthano). Such very specific verbs.
I suppose that last paragraph is not great evidence of my realization that this blog is not a Greek class. It is good evidence of my rambling state of mind. It is likely that I will carry on putting up miniature Greek lessons until someone tells me I'm being obnoxious or pretentious, which I may very well be being. (Be being: what is that? The subjunctive present participle? Odd.) The reason I keep harping on the Greek of things, though, is because I love the Greek.
Well, well. It is an hour later than I thought and high time I went to bed. Wish me luck on feeling a little more human tomorrow.
luck is wished.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I am awake and I feel much more human! The curative powers of sleep...
ReplyDeleteI think I'm a bit late to wish you luck although it seems as if you got lucky with the sleep thing anyway. 'Blithery' sounds like quite a pleasant state providing it's not a precursor for something else. We've had some mild days in the UK. Early flowers and rising sap all of a sudden. That tends to give me a little thrill so I've bee feeling a bit lighter and more 'connected' too.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I don't know any Greek (well a tiny bit of New Testement) so 'it's all Greek to me' as they say. 'Dead' languages always seem more fascinating than living ones though.
Well I hope you had a good day.
K.x
Lucky you with the mild weather. We've had a definite return of winter, complete with snow. It's only about 34 F, something like 1 C out there today.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that things are lighter.