From Wit’s End

I felt a silent and subconscious vexation, the source of which I could not put my finger on. On Saturday January 6th, I went to see the movie “Cast Away”. After recounting his feelings of isolation and struggles with despair, Tom Hanks’ character spoke my thoughts:

“Because I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there– Totally alone… I had power over nothing. And that’s when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow I had to keep breathing, even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said I would never see this place again. So that’s what I did: I stayed alive, I kept breathing. And then one day that logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail…”

In seeking to calm this mysterious vexation, I thought perhaps it would be at least cathartic to witness the desperation of others (ah, the humanity…) . So for a week or so, I resorted to surfing internet personal ads in the evenings.