Snafu, Tohubohu!

Quotation

“What we have in poetry, it appears, is poetry in a vacuum, which is even worse

than poetry in a Salad Shooter or a hot-air corn popper. There is no consensus

about the culture, and therefore no common ground on which poets, critics,

scholars, students or even readers (are there any left?) can share assumptions and

discuss with some coherence the great questions of life and art.  To suggest this tohubohu in a manner that may be unfair but is quick, efficient, and vivid, let me cite a few blurbs from the pile of poetry collections on my table …

--DAVID R. SLAVITT, "PASSIONATE INTENSITY," NEW YORK TIMES,

FEBRUARY 12, 1995

 

Reflection

Snafu, Tohubohu -- what is this, have I entered the world of the Flintstones, some

other cartoon world, like SpongeBob, or is this word actually the names of Tohu

and Bohu combined, the monsters in the McCrey web-novel, “Worm”?  So, what do the words snafu and tohubohu mean?  Snafu is defined this way: as a noun, it means a bad situation, especially one for

incompetence or a badly confused or ridiculously muddled situation; as an adjective it means marked by confusion or chaotic; as a verb it means to throw into disorder or confusion. Interestingly, snafu is also a U.S. military acronym from the 1940’s: SNAFU, Situation Normal, All F**cked Up, or Situation Normal, All

Fouled Up. The word tohubohu has a very interesting origin. It means chaos, disorder,

confusion and comes from Hebrew tohu wa-bhohu, a phrase occurring in the Genesis narrative, describing the condition of the earth immediately before the creation of light. In Genesis 1:2, in the King James version it is translated as “without form, and void”. This Hebrew word is an example of hendiadys, a rhetorical device in which two words are connected to express a single idea.  Another example of hendiadys can be found in the Gospel of Matthew 7:14: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way” which was later misinterpreted to be “straight and narrow”. Tohubohu entered the English language in the first half of the 17th century.

As you can see the words snafu and tohubohu describe a state of chaos, something most of us can relate to. Especially in today’s world, many of us begin each day in a very chaotic environment, which so too  often leads to stress and the attendant negative medical effects, chronic stress can cause. 

So, what can we do to prevent the stress of chaos affecting our lives? 

We are all faced with chaotic events in our lives, that sometimes seem to overwhelm our ability to cope and maintain self-control over our emotions. At those times of vulnerability, we may become furious about everything and everyone. This can lead to experiencing fits of anger, sometimes alternating with

episodes of frantically crying in sadness and fear.  So, what are some things we can do to help us during these chaotic times we are sure to face.

• Try taking a deep breath. Slow deep breathing can give us time to figure out how to correct the problem confronting us.

• Do not react to negative thoughts you are experiencing during the moment.  They are merely thoughts, and they too often pass.

• Choose wisely the people who can best support you. Find those in your life who can listen to you without judgement, offering sound advice.

• As is often said, humor can be the best medicine. Try to find humor when possible. Humor can give our brain a much-needed break from ruminating over our problems.

• Avoid shame. Learn from the experience and move on.

 

Petition:

Creator God, help me bring order to the chaos around me, help me to just breathe!

 

Music

Breathe by Jonny Diaz

Barry