Urban legend has it that shoes hanging from a phone line are an indication of gang boundaries, or of a site for drug sales. It turns out this isn’t true. So why the shoes on telephone lines? Apparently, sometimes you just want to fling a pair of shoes.
What do you like to do for no particularly good reason?
“There are times in life when people must know when not to let go. Balloons are designed to teach small children this.”
―Terry Pratchett
What feels like it could escape from you, if you don’t hold tightly to the string?
“We clasp the hands of those who go before us,/ And the hands of those who come after us,” writes Wendell Berry. One might add that we clasp the hands of those next to us as well, forming not a line, but a web of hands across time.
Whose hand—past, present or future—are you grateful to be holding?
They say that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but sometimes even when the grass is clearly greener on the side you’re already on, it’s worth having a look over the fence to see what is out there.
What do you enjoy looking at or imagining as part of your life that you don’t actually want to pursue?
Things like epoxy glue and concrete are good when you want to hold things in place for a really long time. But sometimes you just need to secure something for a little while, like when you want to hang your clothes on the line until they dry. Secure is good, but so is the ability to let go easily when the time is right.
What are you holding in place just for now
