All of the Banal Things

'nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so'

You might have a new lover. Or you simply might be approached by a nice guy at the train station as I was yesterday - who, trying to be kind - offered me a car and a sports lover's magazines over my coffee at eight a.m., while a walkman was blaring into my ears. (Being forced to read these at any time - not to mention early morning - is extremely comic for my taste.)

The point being that these are all quite banal incidents - the difference is in how you experience them and how you see them and talk about them.

Or to put it another way, I once read a short story by a Slovene author about a girl who makes her living sending you, for some money, 'objective' accounts of your inner turmoils. Something like: a spendthrift overly concerned about his money situation while at the same time ditched by his girlfriend who never cared for him in the first place..

Looked at from this perspective, even writing about receiving a literary prize for a body of writing that does not exist becomes a real adventure. The necessary element is that something is brought to life is given life etc. etc.

This is the prose piece in question:

A FICTITIOUS AWARD-WINNING SPEECH

There is profound wisdom in the behaviour of those Buddhist monks who brush their way forward to avoid stepping on insects. To meddle with other people’s lives without this insight is not only rash but immoral. I thank you for your recognition of my work in the entertainment sector and pray to God He gives me the courage to be a man of action one day.