PERSONAL ESSAY
The Art of Promising Nothing and Getting No One Upset
I know in my heart that ‘I cannot promise’ and ‘No’ is worth saying
Spiritual topsy-turvydome is released when you pull its ugly nose and rejoice at the universal lack of activity.
Of late, I witnessed an urgent need to educate myself in all the riff-raffs of the art of promising nothing.
We were married for only a year, and we were comic in a tragedy of our incongruities. I was all the unconscious and elementary promising and planning. He was an utter superiority in relaxation, passionate leisure, and relief. I thirsted first and last to know what happens next, to clear the picture of tomorrow. My husband needed to get clear of the whole poisonous atmosphere of ‘must-s’ and ‘have to-s’. He wanted to say “I don’t know” to any question involving the exact timing of any activity. He craved for freedom to change his mind in an hour’s, and even a minute’s time consulting only his fancy. It was an utter madness for my unable-to-relax mind.
“Your talk is a torrent of nonsense, love, you and I can change our minds whenever and whatever reason…
