I once went to a seminar with an Asian speaker. He said, “If you ask a person to compare their life to something, they will answer you based on their work and the role they play in society.”
I was quick to dismiss the statement, because I was 29 and I knew everything.
What I heard that day ended up being confirmed almost every day of my life.
Even if you don’t ask,
the military and the warmongers are the first to talk about war.
The police are the first to talk about thieves.
The judges are the first to talk about justice.
The lawyers are the first to talk about the law.
The dentists and orthodontists are the first to talk about teeth.
The firefighters and pyromaniacs are the first to talk about fire.
The children are the first to talk about parents and teachers.
Even when the other person thinks he is speaking first “on behalf of others,” in reality he is speaking first and foremost on his own behalf.
About danger, it’s the unprotected, the insecure, and the wounded those who speak first.
About strife, it’s the quarrelsome ones and those who avoid conflict.
About foreigners, it’s the xenomaniacs and the xenophobic ones.
About germs, it’s the patients and the hypochondriac ones.
About revenge, it’s the blatantly wronged and the vengeful ones.
About the teeth of dogs, it’s the bitten ones.
About the claws of cats, it’s the scratched ones.
Poets and writers write about what touched them.
Painters, sculptors, and lyricists have their muses and their experiences as the objects of their arts.
Singers and filmmakers speak about the culture of their time.
When there are inequalities, the underprivileged speak first.
Homosexuals speak first about homophobia.
Refugees, immigrants, blacks in Western societies and foreigners speak first about racism.
Philosophers speak first about the relativity of things.
Women speak first about patriarchy, femicide and gender equality.
Those who feel deprived speak first about needs and shortcomings.
Those who are exiled speak first about repatriation.
Those who grew up in the house of Spirtokouto speak first about the need for peace.
Those who grew up in the house of Dogtooth speak first about the need for adulthood.
The need for privacy is first voiced by those who live without enough boundaries.
The need for money is first voiced by those who are financially unstable.
The need for rest is first voiced by the tired ones.
The need for communication is first voiced by those who have been ignored.
The need for beauty is first voiced by those who have seen ugliness.
Age and lost youth are first referred by those who have realized that they are growing up.
“Home sweet home” is first told by those who love their home.
“Help me, God” is first told by those who cry out for help from above.
“Along with Athena, move your hand”* is first toldby those who know that help from Athena is not enough.
When you are out of touch with your truth and your responsibility, you talk about anything that will divert the conversation away from them.
The first to speak about the responsibility of others are the ones who are afraid of responsibility and those who want to find scapegoats.
The first to speak about society are sociologists, politicians and those who do not want to talk about themselves – often in combination.
The first to speak about people as objects are the fascists.
The first to speak about the lives of others are the researchers, gossips, journalists and those who have no life – often in combination.
The more general the concept, the more diametrically opposed are those who speak first about this concept.
The first to speak about love are those who have been loved and those who know that they should have been loved.
The first to speak about chaos and the abyss are those who are not afraid of getting lost there and those who do not know that they have not been loved.
Money is talked about first by those who have it, knowing that it does not solve all problems, and by those who do not have it, believing that it solves all problems.
Life is talked about first by those who want to live and those who cannot wait to die.
I wrote this list
and reread it
to see who I am today –
today when our house is burning down.
*Greek proverb
