If you’re a reader of subject matter other than technical manuals and cereal boxes, the odds are good you’ve come across the phrase “may you live in interesting times” at some point. It’s purported to be a Chinese curse, and if you think about it, it could very well be a malediction. Some of the more horrific events in human history have certainly occurred during times of rapid change.

I got curious while contemplating this phrase, and good ol’ Wikipedia came through yet again. As usual with semi-common knowledge things, this ‘Chinese curse’ appears not to be of Chinese origin…but it still makes for some interesting reading.

According to Wikipedia, it’s one of a triad of curses of increasing severity, the other two being:

• “May you come to the attention of those in authority” (sometimes rendered “May the government be aware of you”). This is sometimes quoted as “May you come to the attention of powerful people.” (Alternately, “important people”.)
• “May you find what you are looking for.” This is sometimes quoted as “May your wishes be granted.”

Considering I’ve been writing essays for the American Daily Herald for the last couple of months whose main focus are politics opinion pieces, those could be downright scary.

Since I believe in never doing anything halfway, one of the first things I mean to do once this blog’s initial task succeeds and I get my mobility back is to expand the scope of the journalism I seem to have discovered an affinity for to the world outside. Of course the Krip Kam series has to accompany that, which could be more than a little perilous, given the events fast unfolding in our world.

There’s a flip side to the potential hazards…we might be on the cusp of seeing some really positive changes rather than just a new iteration of the status quo that big changes have always seemed to devolve to. The internet provides a whole new paradigm, and as such is yet untested for how it’ll help us cope with those big changes. The coming years might turn out to be a grand adventure, one I wouldn’t think of staying home to miss.

No matter what, it’s almost certain that the times ahead are going to be interesting, to say the least.