Slow Change May Pull Us Apart

I’ve been thinking that life is like a rug that is slowly and methodically being woven. The problem is that the time it takes to weave each thread into the rug allows time for those already woven to loosen and fray. It would seem that it’s important to pay heed to the parts of the rug that have already been put in place while also tending to the addition of more threads to complete the rug. You can’t though. You can’t keep the old threads intact while adding new ones because then your attention is divided and sooner or later the whole thing falls apart.

So we pick, every day, which threads we allow to unravel and which we choose to weave into the pattern. The hole left by the missing threads is at once a reminder that something is lost and a placeholder to remember what was. Is it still cynical even if it’s the truth?