In my opinion, opinions do more harm than good. Take opinions about who's "saved" (?) and how, and who isn't. It can do a family no good, in my experience, to discuss differences of opinion about things like this. Much better everybody should just pare potatoes together and enjoy Thanksgiving.
Yet, I read op-ed, informed opinion you could call it, avidly. Today I read a column in the NY Times by Lisa Belkin, who writes about parenting. It is a good column, but I got sidetracked by a sentence.
". . . modern parenthood, where we often hold many contradictory opinions at once. Want to work but also want to stay home."
"Want to work." I wondered, What is it you really want, when you "want to work"? At first, I had difficulty answering. I have always had the nature of a Poet, compounded by resistance against parents who worked compulsively, and a dislike of being told what to do. (I think most people feel that way, but hide it better than me.)
So, while I am quickly bored by assigned tasks, I am endlessly amused strolling through the Whetstone Prairie. Just being there, with no responsibilities at all. I see work as something that in the state of nature we would do only to get something we need, like food. Just being, now that's a condition worth working for.
