Overheard On A Saltmarsh

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  Nymph, nymph, what are your beads? Green glass, goblin. Why do you stare at them? Give them me. No. Give them me. Give them me. No. Then I will howl all night in the reeds, Lie in the mud and howl for them. Goblin, why do you love them so? They are better than stars or water, Better than voices of winds that sing, Better than any man's fair daughter, Your green glass beads on a silver ring. Hush, I stole them out of the moon. Give me your beads, I want them. No. I will howl in the deep lagoon For your green glass beads, I love them so. Give them me. Give them. No. - Harold Monro (1879 - 1932)

The Fight For A Well-tuned Soul

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Looking up the history of the meaning of a word is more important to me than searching for a definition for a couple of reasons. First, the general rule of thumb in serving a definition is that a word is never to be explained by itself. Consider Marriam-Webster's definition of the verb form of "fortune": "to give good or bad fortune to" and "to endow with a fortune." Nothing learned except to find another dictionary. Second, by considering etymology, one returns to the source of a word and there we find the core of a word. "Fortune," in this case means, "that which is brought."

Think now on what this means: a wealthy man may be considered "fortunate" if one considers fortune to be money, property or all the good things in life. Does this mean the unhealthy are not fortunate? One philosopher observed that to want nothing is to own everything. 

One of the greatest philosophical debates of all time is found in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Act 3, Scene 1 wherein Hamlet weighs the deep thought, 

To be, or not to be? That is the question—
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And, by opposing, end them? . . 

This soliloquy is a treasure and easily understood when delivered a-right, but my intention is not to provide that sort of commentary here. I am caused to reflect not so much on Hamlet's problem of "being" (he never says, "I" or "me" so is he truly contemplating suicide?) but on his weighing how one might use the state of being--or not being. Narrowly, we ask which is better: to endure the onslaught of gaining some monstrous legacy (that can't be enjoyed after death) or to fight for peace in my life and start with contentment?  

"You say, good fortune used to meet you at every corner. But the fortunate person is the one who gives themselves a good fortune. And good fortunes are a well-tuned soul, good impulses and good actions."  (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.36)

Fortune is not luck or what you make it. Fortune is what comes to you. Why be discontent and fight for what you do not and cannot have when there is so much more available to you by simply choosing good action? 

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