On the matter of wanting, a lot of us go around dazed and confused. We don?t really know what we?d like?there?s so much available in our consumer utopia, it spins the brain. Knowing what you want isn?t always an easy trick, though most children seem to master it. I understand that for some time Parisian followers of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan used to greet each other in the street with the salutation ?Where do you stand in regard to your desires?? (I?m sure it sounds more elegant in French.) The salutation had the effect of reminding both parties that they?re desiring beings?capable of wishing and having the wish come true (maybe), thereby attaining happiness (perhaps).

Mark Edmundson