NZ Visual Diary - entry 266

lost in thought

We too often diminish the factors of luck and good fortune when taking account of our success in life. Of course, talent and hard work bear greatly on the trajectory of our accomplishments. Rags-to-riches stories should not be discounted, but indeed celebrated. I believe nonetheless that we mythologise the role of individual merit and industry. The myth buttresses a favoured world view that valorises individualism over social connectedness and masks inherited privilege.

I am keenly aware of my own salubrious circumstances, the son of loving parents who spared no effort to help ensure my success. So, as I often do when I see a face that begs for the telling of a story of struggle and hardship, I paused as I made my way across K Road to consider what I might hear if I interrupted his reverie to ask.

On this occasion, I did not ask and therefore in silent surmise, in which cautious inference and empathetic speculation are proxies for conveyed facts, a candid portrait pays homage.