A Student Response From:
Armelle
All creation is a mine, and every man, a miner. - Abraham Lincoln
mine/mine
I love a play on words. Nothing like a pun to make my day. This week I am thinking about two meanings of mine.
Mine refers to a thing or things belonging to or associated with whomever is speaking vs mine as in the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth.
As you suggest in your reflection they both suggest having control over - power to influence and prescribing as a commodity - a useful or valuable thing. Mine opens us to exploration.
Mine also seems to define a relationship between self and the other. A prized possession.
Something that is mine is a very human concept.
Comments 2
YES!! I will dweeb out on these things forever if someone is down.
I love words that can shapeshift between noun and verb. Like “craft”. Then I like taking nouns and verbing them.
Like God.
Gives things back their agency. (Right here is where I would insert that goofy smiley-face emoji)
Armelle,
Ownership is such an interesting thing. I think we as humans believe we have to label things as “mine” in order to have control over them, in order to make sure no one takes them from us. It’s crazy how such a simple word can have so much meaning and strength, in both positive and negative ways.
Is “mine” fair? Is it more fair in certain circumstances than others? We can call an animal “mine” and it means we feed it, love it, care for it. When we call a human “mine” we do it so no one can take them from us, we’ve already called “dibs.” Is it fair to dibs on someone’s life, their whole being? Imagine someone else calling you “mine,” what does that mean? You are a soul on this earth and now you don’t even get to live for yourself in this particular body. And when does “mine” end? Now you’re no one’s? IS your worth determined by someone wanting you or not?
Do we have power without ownership? Can power over someone coexist with respecting them?