04 March 2014

I've just mentioned this phrase..

in Gleanings (another blog of mine)...

and want to share the thoughts that came into my mind.

From: The Good Women of China by Xinran

'.......the inertia of tradition made it hard for any one of us to fix on an independent course in life.'

We hear this word' tradition' so often. We use it to stress a point, or as a compass to live by as Tevye did in Fiddler on the Roof, or we hide behind it...it is a very convenient word, especially if we are afraid...afraid of questioning, afraid of new things, afraid of stepping into the unknown, afraid of being ostracized, afraid of our reputation...just afraid...

And thus we allow tradition to paralyze us, and make our minds sluggish as we passively accept whatever comes our way...the inertia of tradition....