"Every living being is stitched
into the world"
-Tim Ingold. Lines. A brief history.
I wanted to go on a long walk today, let go of the thinking,
but I got lost in the writing and listening to music and other peoples’ words.
On Sunday I talked with some new and old friends about
names, the meaning of names. My
own name was popular in the seventies when I received it and although I never
really liked it (but didn’t dislike it either), I am fond of one of the
meanings it has: the solitary one. From the Greek “Monos”, meaning alone. In
Latin it is connected to the verb “monere”, to advise. The earliest reference
to the name Monica (and both in Spain and Poland they prefer to call me
Mónica/Monika) is found in ancient Numidian inscriptions and it might include a
reference to the ancient Libyan god Mon. Monica is the patron saint of married
women. I didn’t know that last thing, discovered it just now. Maybe that is why
I like still being married while being single.
Yes, what’s
in a name? We need them to label things. That’s all. And maybe they become
something because they carry that name. That is why I keep mine. I like being
solitary. But I also love spending time with good friends. Friends I know well
but also people who feel like friends even before you really know them. Know
the part of them that is knowable. “We continue to discover each other”
one of the musicians I listened to today said. And there are many ways to do
that.
My friend
who is hosting me so generously these days wrote all our names in Japanese on a
piece of paper, drawing characters, showing them to us, speaking them. She used
the backside of some scores to write on. Walking fingers study.
It is all the same thing, walking, music, drawing, writing.
Steps, notes, words, making connections. Texts, journeys, songs. Things we use
to discover the world, other people, ourselves.
Lines, roads, soundwaves ......
And maybe, after writing this, it is time to go outside and listen to the sea
..... different waves, different lines but similar effect.
