Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 2:02am
In search of the golden eggs
Column: Our Place in the Universe
Now I have a boy. And for those of you who also have boys, you know the accompanying chaos and energy associated with this species. I've lived more than 20 years with a quiet, gentle, focused young woman, so you can imagine that this is a change!
This is not like the "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" version of the story. This is more like Jack and the Beanstalk meets Goldilocks. Tall and solid, this young man has come to visit, in a sense looking for the goose that lays the golden eggs.
After trading his mother's cow for some magic beans, Jack is told that he is foolish for believing in miracles. His mother throws the beans out the window, and the next morning, lo and behold, there is a bean vine the size of a skyscraper. Of course, Jack decides to climb it.
At the top he meets the Giant's wife who is a good, kind woman. Am I the wife of the story, I wonder? She feeds him and hides him from the Giant, when he comes home hungry. From his hiding place, Jack watches the Giant gently lift a goose onto the table and ask it to lay an egg. To his surprise, the egg appears solid gold.
Well, you can guess the rest: Jack steals the goose, escapes from the hungry Giant, rushes down the beanstalk and chops it down before the Giant can descend. He brings the goose home to his mother, and they live happily ever after.
My boy has come here from abroad with hope and vision. Wanting to gain an American education, he eyes the giants around him, feeling small and insignificant. He hopes to make something of himself and escape before he is eaten. And yet, it is also here that he hopes to find the golden goose that will help make this chance taking worthwhile.
Interesting, isn't it, that in this symbolism, America has both the Giant and the goose, and the powerful Giant uses the goose for his own selfish gains at the expense or even the lives of others?
The Goldilocks version of this tale is that we are always searching for more. Not satisfied with our own lot in life, we look for someone else's chair or food or bed — something that is bigger or softer or hotter than what we imagine will do us. Finally we decide what is "just right," only to discover that we've had what was "just right" for us all along.
Still, this young man is here now searching for himself, and the way to grow and learn. The chaos and confusion he finds himself thrown into is serving as a catalyst for change. Not unlike the Big Bang, which brought opposites together, his presence is influencing us as well.
Protons without electrons fail to make atoms. Hydrogen without oxygen fails to make water. America's greatness, her "giant" status, rests on the foundation of many little Jacks attracted to a land of milk and honey. Their creativity in the face of this chaos created the world around us.
So I tell my boy, "Be thankful for the differences between yourself and others. They are what will make you strong and resourceful. Be grateful for the golden goose — it will be the energy source that will bring you and others together. But know that the power to live, to be successful, lies inside of you alone. You are responsible for your own greatness, but one star in a sky of many stars makes an amazing spectacle of light."
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. She has her masters in earth literacy, and is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Anne E. Ulvestad
This is not like the "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" version of the story. This is more like Jack and the Beanstalk meets Goldilocks. Tall and solid, this young man has come to visit, in a sense looking for the goose that lays the golden eggs.
After trading his mother's cow for some magic beans, Jack is told that he is foolish for believing in miracles. His mother throws the beans out the window, and the next morning, lo and behold, there is a bean vine the size of a skyscraper. Of course, Jack decides to climb it.
At the top he meets the Giant's wife who is a good, kind woman. Am I the wife of the story, I wonder? She feeds him and hides him from the Giant, when he comes home hungry. From his hiding place, Jack watches the Giant gently lift a goose onto the table and ask it to lay an egg. To his surprise, the egg appears solid gold.
Well, you can guess the rest: Jack steals the goose, escapes from the hungry Giant, rushes down the beanstalk and chops it down before the Giant can descend. He brings the goose home to his mother, and they live happily ever after.
My boy has come here from abroad with hope and vision. Wanting to gain an American education, he eyes the giants around him, feeling small and insignificant. He hopes to make something of himself and escape before he is eaten. And yet, it is also here that he hopes to find the golden goose that will help make this chance taking worthwhile.
Interesting, isn't it, that in this symbolism, America has both the Giant and the goose, and the powerful Giant uses the goose for his own selfish gains at the expense or even the lives of others?
The Goldilocks version of this tale is that we are always searching for more. Not satisfied with our own lot in life, we look for someone else's chair or food or bed — something that is bigger or softer or hotter than what we imagine will do us. Finally we decide what is "just right," only to discover that we've had what was "just right" for us all along.
Still, this young man is here now searching for himself, and the way to grow and learn. The chaos and confusion he finds himself thrown into is serving as a catalyst for change. Not unlike the Big Bang, which brought opposites together, his presence is influencing us as well.
Protons without electrons fail to make atoms. Hydrogen without oxygen fails to make water. America's greatness, her "giant" status, rests on the foundation of many little Jacks attracted to a land of milk and honey. Their creativity in the face of this chaos created the world around us.
So I tell my boy, "Be thankful for the differences between yourself and others. They are what will make you strong and resourceful. Be grateful for the golden goose — it will be the energy source that will bring you and others together. But know that the power to live, to be successful, lies inside of you alone. You are responsible for your own greatness, but one star in a sky of many stars makes an amazing spectacle of light."
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. She has her masters in earth literacy, and is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Anne E. Ulvestad