If a woman stands in her kitchen, and both her children are on a school trip to France for the whole week, does she still exist?
A koan for you – not very Zen, but the best I can do
October 15, 2007 at 10:05 am (bleeeuurgh, i'm cold, parenting types)
cronznet said,
October 15, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I love the new look!
As for the woman in your koan, of course she exists in the kitchen, but she might not exist elsewhere, particularly in the car…
Clive For Nothing said,
October 15, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Does she not temporarily revert to who she was in a previous existence? For a week.
Mangonel said,
October 15, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Hmm. Doesn’t it depend on who is doing the defining? If it was your children, I’d say ‘Duh-huh!‘ Or possibly ‘Whatever’. If it was your blogchums, I’d say You Exist In As Much As You Ever Did (Hooray) and if I was you . . . . . . .?
(And yes. Lurvely new look.)
Billy said,
October 15, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I’m tempted to make a reference to “ice cream koans”
flutter said,
October 15, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Yes, she exists, for a solitary moment as a separate entity from her children.
jane henry said,
October 15, 2007 at 7:47 pm
I love the idea of temporarily reverting to a previous existence, but I suspect she will have forgotten how…
I think the answer as far as the offspring are concerned is she only exists when she is on hand to pamper, cosset, and take to school/the gym/parties etc. If yours are anything like mine out of sight really does mean out of mind.
She may of course exist in a plane between universes which gives her a brief and glorious glimpse of a future where she no longer exists solely as a mother but may go back to that aforementioned previous self.
Or better still evolve into a new improved, sans offspring version….
wyndham said,
October 15, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I think she’d exist more down a bar with a glass of red in front of her.
rivergirlie said,
October 15, 2007 at 8:46 pm
what very good suggestions from you all. i think she might have to go and exist in london for a couple of days, don’t you?
Brom said,
October 15, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I’m with Wyndham, and my comment was “What the hell was she doing in the kitchen in the first place”?
Oh, as people are commenting on your new look, I was going to say that the graphic thinggy reminded me of a clock I once tried to fix without sucess.
Marmite Breath said,
October 16, 2007 at 1:05 am
Gorgeous new digs, Rivergirlie!
I will tell you about the Japanese Peace Lily soon. It confirms my saddo status.
James S said,
October 16, 2007 at 5:42 am
Another point of view do the children still exist or will she have to reinvent them after she has finished her cappuccino? Does the rest of the house exist? I am sure that this response exists … or am !
Help!! I am trapped inside a compxxxx
rivergirlie said,
October 16, 2007 at 9:06 am
brom you’ve correctly discerned that the kitchen is not my natural environment.
nat glad you like it! my daughter did it on a whim before going off to france. i neeeeed to know.
james are you at work today, cos i’ll be down later. we could do that drink? i’ll email you. (i’, pretty sure i WILL have to reinvent the kids when they get back, but maybe not in the way you mean. are you having a reality crisis? what have you been reading – or, indeed, consuming lately?!)
guycurrie said,
October 16, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Yes, but with her heart several hundred miles away perhaps?
here’s one for you…
if a man walking down the path without his wife, is having some internal dialogue and no one can hear him….
is he still wrong?
rivergirlie said,
October 18, 2007 at 6:04 pm
gc you’ve got it in one! as for the man – well of course he’s wrong. it almost goes without saying.
Jen on the Edge said,
October 20, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Not only does she exist, she does so in a splendid fashion. Lunch out with friends. Shopping. Happy Hour. A trip to the salon for hair and nails pampering.
rockmother said,
October 21, 2007 at 9:06 pm
God – if that was me I would be panicking and feeling like Wendy Craig in Butterflies. Where’s Leonard when you need him? I think you are very brave letting two children go off like that – I guess I have it all to come. I hope you did something you wanted to do as well as downing a nice glass of wine!
rockmother said,
October 21, 2007 at 9:07 pm
PS: It’s all a bit Harrod’s round here – re: new colour scheme – very regal!
pouletnoir said,
October 30, 2007 at 12:57 am
I know you’re not supposed to answer koans, but presumably the mother still exists, but only when she is worrying that her children are getting drunk on “33 Export” lager and buying their first porn.