Wednesday, February 18, 2009

And the thing I meant to say earlier

I was cleaning out my desk and happened upon a great fortune-cookie fortune. It reads:

Your future is whatever you make of it, so make it a good one.

It was great to see this on the eve of a fascinating new future, of course.

This is not really a fortune at all. It is an anti-fortune.

Fortunes tell you what is going to happen, in such a way that you feel powerless to prevent it. "A guest will arrive unexpectedly." "You will meet with success." "Lucky numbers: 2 4 13 25 36 39". "Someone close to you will die soon."

This one tells you that you can shape your own destiny. Paradoxically, it critiques other fortunes but it is a fortune. It is a universal truth that is uniquely personal, yet it was one of thousands of copies distributed randomly to Chinese-food lovers.

1 comment:

K. Andersen said...

I collect Chinese fortunes and likely left that one in the desk since it used to be mine :) I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I got a fortune at Bryce's favorite restaurant about a year before we got engaged that said, "You or a good friend will be happily married", hopefully this is something that is unavoidable.
<3 Kefi