Ιδού το απόσπασμα από τον πρόλογο
The famous filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, in his film Wild Strawberries—an autobiographical tale in disguise—tells the story of an old man, Isak Borg, who embarks on two journeys, one from Stockholm to Lund to receive an honorary doctorate, the other into his inner world. To all outward appearances Isak Borg is a very successful man, a respected medical doctor and scientist. However, his personal life reveals a very different picture. His relationship with his ancient mother is devoid of warmth, while that with his father (who is apparently out of the picture) is all but nonexistent; very little love is lost between Borg and his older brother; Borg’s marriage, which was plagued by adultery and unhappiness, has ended in divorce; and Borg has a very distant relationship with the son of that marriage—his only offspring. Worse yet, the son is showing a relational pattern very like his own: an icy formality has crept between father and son. Given this relational morass, it is no surprise to learn, in the introduction to the film, that Borg’s outlook on life has become, over time, increasingly “seen through a glass darkly.” A sense of pessimism has crept upon him concerning the entire human race. Distraught at the way his life has turned out, he has withdrawn from most human interaction.
During the journey from Stockholm to Lund, Isak Borg—accompanied by his daughter-in-law (who plays a guiding role like that of Dante’s Beatrice)—is confronted with various scenes from his past. Many of these scenes, which revolve around critical incidents, elicit unhappy memories. To counter the feelings these memories stir up—to avoid being overwhelmed by anxiety and misery—Borg makes an effort to recall incidents of happiness. He tries to return to his “patches of wild strawberries” (the phrase that’s the title of the film in Swedish), symbols of the sweetness of life—memories of the fleeting moments of bliss and happiness that we all cling to. As the journey progresses (and Borg is influenced by a number of significant character-building experiences), his outlook on life begins to change. He becomes happier, more playful. He tries to reach out to people. Unfortunately, this transformation occurs when life’s clock stands at a few minutes to midnight.
Reflecting on happiness tends to send a person on a trip down memory lane. Writing this commentary on happiness has taken me back to my own “patches of wild strawberries,” but it’s also returned me to the many thorn bushes I’ve encountered in my life’s journey. There are echoes in my own background of both Bertrand Russell’s essay and Ingmar Bergman’s film. Not surprisingly, then, writing about happiness has been a conflicted process for me. While I’ve found great pleasure in both the aesthetic aspect of writing (the creation of something tangible) and the pragmatic aspect (the creation of something meaningful), that satisfaction has at times been overshadowed by the personal journey into the self that thinking about happiness inevitably triggers.
Όταν μαζεύουμε χόρτα στο βουνό και βρούμε πολλά πικροράδικα συγκεντρωμένα σε μια μικρή επιφάνεια λέμε: ''μάζεψα μια μαγεριά σε μιά πατουλιά''
Υποθέτω ότι το pach είναι η πατουλιά η φυτιά, αυτά από την γεωπονική άποψη...