The chain of cause and effect that links human affairs is endless, which means they remain without a real explanation. I am here at "Riverbend" as a result of an infinite series of 'becauses', of which it is impossible to establish the first because there really is no beginning.
Perhaps it all comes down to fate, and fate is ineluctable, even though I have always wanted to be surprised by life and never believed in prophecies. Perhaps this is the meaning of Oedipus's prophecy: a fortune-teller tells his father, Laius, that his son will kill him and become his mother's lover. To avoid this, Laius gets rid of Oedipus by sending him far away. And just because of that act the returning Oedipus can kill Laius without knowing he is his father, and, without knowing that she is his mother, he can become Jocasta's lover. If Laius had ignored the fortune-teller, nothing would have happened; the prophecy is fulfilled precisely because he takes it seriously and does his best to avoid the consequences. The Greeks understood and said it all five centuries before Christ, and we're still rediscovering it today!
Which brings me, ever so conveniently, to where my train of thought had started its long journey: Greece. Of course, I should've stayed longer in Greece. And, of course, I should've stayed longer - perhaps forever - in my first real home, Pallarenda, just north of Townsville. And, yes, I should've stayed longer on Thursday Island. And I certainly should've stayed longer in Burma. But time is what keeps everything from happening at once, and had I spent more time in Burma, I'd probably never lived and worked on Thursday Island, and had I settled at Pallarenda, Greece would still be just a place on the map for me.
Life is not a linear progression. It's full of twists and turns with plenty of pitfalls and setbacks, or, as the unforgettable and now late Leonard Cohen - who also had a strong connection with Greece - put it so well, "There is a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in".
