O Fortuna!

Giddy Fortune's furious fickle wheel, That goddess blind, That stands upon the rolling restless stone.
~ William Shakespeare, Henry V

So, this week I’ve just about had it up to here. And if you could see where I’m pointing to, you would know how fed up I am! We received notice yesterday that our brand new apartment complex might be foreclosed in the near future. Doesn’t really matter much, except that we really—and I mean really—don’t want to move. Plus, our landlord is acting like everything’s peachy and still wants us to pay him; meanwhile, we get messages from the bank that we need to pay them (or else, basically).

I feel like that camel that unsuspectingly got his back broken by one last straw. It just seems like lately so many things have been going wrong, I wonder if lady luck is frowning on me, that miserable wench. Not to mention that I’ve got a list about as long as I am tall of other little things we have to get done—just little odds and ends that start to stack up and tower over you. Is this another nasty dose of true adulthood that I am experiencing?

The ancients (as in ancient Anglo-Saxons) believed that their lives were governed by a blind woman, Fortune, who spun a wheel of good and bad luck: beggar on the bottom, king on the top. In medieval times, “tragedy was less the result of individual action than a reflection of the inevitable turning of Fortune's wheel.” This theory, although intriguing, still affords me little comfort, except that I'd have something to blame my fate on. And, when things don’t seem like they can get much worse, at least I'd know that the backswing must be on the way. I'd be able to count on leaving beggar-dom someday as king-hood would be coming, inevitably, in the future.

I’m reading a Chinese book right now, and I’ve already encountered a few “interesting” traditions that have to do with attaining good fortune in that culture. Suddenly, I have a clear understanding of why people are willing to do pretty crazy-weird stuff in order to invite luck on their side.

So, listen up, you merciless Fortune! I’m ready for the backswing. I give up! Anytime you are ready, blind lady, spin that wheel!