Kismet

It's getting more difficult. There is no denying that, at the moment, it is increasingly difficult to write Quirky Muffins. Seeing students is a draining process, as is the constant drain of hypotheticals about how to survive in the future. Perhaps it's time to take a turn sideways and check the Phrontistery for a word or two of motivation. Yes, to the Phrontistery!

Delving under the letter 'K', we find such words as:

kakistocracy - government by the worst;
kickie-wickie - a wife;
kismet - fate, destiny.

'Kakistocracy' is simply a fun word, and one which some would describe as being very relevant at the moment, but 'kickie-wickie' is funnier. 'Kismet' is on a whole new level, though, being an arabic word for fate or destiny, specifically meaning 'lot' or 'portion' in life. There are other meanings.

What if there is a fate, or fates? Would it be some abstract force embedded into the universe, or would it embodied in entities like the ancient Greek Moirai, spinning threads of life through from birth to death as they create the grand weave of the universe? The old Greek mythology is nice, amidst all the brutality and cruelty, a lyrical set of myths, as long as you're not wooed by the ever-voracious Zeus.

Fate, the old bugbear of philosophy. If there is a destiny, then everything is pre-ordained and is therefore immutable. Why should we try to change it, unless our trying to change something of which we are ignorant is what causes that destiny to begin with? Having a fate is only a curse if we know what that fate is, otherwise it's utterly harmless.

Factually, we do have fates, every single one of us. We live them every day, whether under the pseudo tyranny of kakistocracy or not. We can change them for the better, from our own perspective, which is all that matters. Alternatively, we could sing 'The World Is Just A Great Big Onion' repeatedly until the Sun novas out of frustration.

O.