Macro Monday

/ Su Leslie
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How do we trust the structure when only a fragment is in focus? Su Leslie, 2018

The structure here is a titanium earring (a madly impractical, 1980s-excess sort of earring); incredibly strong because it is a) titanium and, b) triangular.

I know this because it’s my earring, but life is full of structures for which I have no “eye of God” perspective.

A society works because (and when) its citizens can trust the institutions and processes that form the structure of that society. Trust can only be maintained if those institutions and processes continue to perform, and do so with sufficient transparency that we are not left holding onto little but blind faith.

And when the structures start to seem wobbly or indistinct, it is our job as members of the society to stand together and do all we can to fix them.

Easier said than done, admittedly.

29 thoughts on “Macro Monday”

  1. I totally agree with you, but an awful lot of people don’t. As far as they are concerned, “all of that stuff” that you call “structure” has nothing to do with them. They quite literally shrug is off. Some of them are just stupid, others just don’t want to be bothered with the complexities of their world. As far as I have been able to tell, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. And I say this as the parent and grandparent of two of them. It wasn’t their upbringing, either. It’s generational and personal. It’s also insanely frustrating.

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    • Sadly, you’re probably right about some people. If it’s not biting them on the bum, it’s ok to ignore. My son and his friends seem to understand issues and have empathy, but they have no belief in their ability to effect change and retreat into hedonism (or as much hedonism as is possible in their minimum wage lives).

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  3. I had a different reaction to this image. It made me think that often what we see in a photograph is a distortion because we don’t see the image in context. I think that is also true of so many other things in life—how we see a particular person, how the news is reported, and how we view issues in our society.

    Your insight is so valuable. Thanks for sharing it.

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  5. This gives me a chance to use one of my favourite phrases “I blame Margaret Thatcher”. Works on many occasions, in this case, and in this country anyway, because she told us there is no such thing as society, which gave people permission not to care about it.

    On a lighter note, I still cherish one of a beautiful pair of titanium earrings. It’s mate disappeared years ago. Probably Margaret Thatcher’s fault 😉

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  7. “And when the structures start to seem wobbly or indistinct, it is our job as members of the society to stand together and do all we can to fix them.”
    Agreed. Together, all those individual little circles make a good structure.

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  8. Whew. I never thought anything remotely so deep when admiring earrings… What I literally felt when looking at your image was the pain when I’m wearing one of my large dangly earrings and it’s windy and the metal is slapping my face…

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  9. Food for thought, Su! Trust being a critical building block for a society to work – explains the ills that plague this world we live in.

    Love the colours and the funkiness of your earring – I imagine you look quite dramatic and fabulous in them!

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