Coffee Letter #031: On Randomness
On how lucky I am to have been born in this place and time.
In the past couple of months all the things I consumed (mostly read) seem to have revolved around one of the things I’m obsessed with ever since I formed my first thought (probably): the randomness of the Universe.
I often find myself thinking how Earth is in this tiny perfect spot in the Universe that meets all the requirements for our species to exist. Here. Right now. The perfect distance from the Sun to not be too hot (debatable) or too cold. The Moon to control our waters (and our moods). Jupiter, our mighty guardian, keeping all the asteroids sitting nicely in the asteroid belt with its gravitational pull. It’s pure randomness that all these things are in the right place so that Earth can beam with life — if only we, as a species, as the smartest species that we think we are, would appreciate this more and care more for our home instead of slowly destroying it.
The protagonist in On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle has this revelation at one time too — it wasn’t the first time my thoughts matched with hers, but that’s when I knew that book was made for me.
Then moving inward, on a smaller level, a more personal one, how lucky I am to have been born here, in this place and time. It’s far from perfect and life is not easy. But after reading Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim and Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, I just have to appreciate the rights I have as a woman in Europe. This is what we discussed at Bogdana’s book club too: how good we have it by comparison, but how this should only ignite our fight as women, as feminists, to defend the rights we have, to ask for more, and to be allies to those who don’t yet have our freedom to be whoever they are.
The world is still shitty even in this place and time. Just because I’m grateful for the chance I got does not mean I don’t see all the inequality and discrimination that still exist even here. Just because someone has it worse, doesn’t mean our problems are not valid.
However I still think we need to live with this awareness that life on this little blue planet is random and that our place on it depends a lot on the luck of the draw.
~ read
Everything I actually finished this week was a tad bit average, but still interesting or entertaining enough to recommend them:
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. The Great Gatsby meets Truman Capote, in this novel set in the late ‘30s in New York. Following Katey Kontent, we witness her adventures as a single woman in New York brushing with people from the high society by chance.
It was an interesting novel — and I’m a sucker for anything old New York, Capote style. A bit uneven, the first half and the second half are almost two different books, although not plot wise exactly. A sea of mixed feelings. I really really liked some parts of this book and at the same time I was really really bored by other parts of it. It's weird.
Sindromul picioarelor neliniștite by Ioana Unk. A little book built like a puzzle full of references and botanical elements, switching perspectives and structures, taking the reader through an exploration of love and relationships.
I'm personally a fan of puzzle books, of not knowing what's going on and trying to put things together to make sense of the world of a book, but this time around I found myself rather lost - I wasn't curious to solve it.
I liked the first half of the novel a lot. I liked the endless searching of the first love in different people, different moments. I am not sure how I feel about the ending.
~ watch
I did not have time to watch anything, maybe an episode here and there from Hacks.
~ and other things I did last week
Food: Roxi’s homemade chocolate bar with homemade caramel sauce and biscuits. Divine! Also divine was Andrada’s rhubarb pie.
Other things consumed last week:
Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s secretive rehabilitation ‘prisons’ for disobedient women (The Guardian).
My sister was found dead. Then I discovered her search history – and the online world that had gripped her (The Guardian).
Have you looked at satellite images of Gaza? You should (The Guardian).
This week was hectic. Even though I was exhausted at the end of each day, I also appreciated every second of it. Maybe one day I’ll write about female friendships because these women that I spent each evening with this week are bloody amazing and I truly admire them. Which brings me back to chance and the randomness of life — had I not taken the plunge and went to our first book club meeting in October 2021, then I’m not sure I would’ve met these amazing women.
Thank you for reading!