WHAT’S more important than learning to lose? In the social sciences, there is a whole field of inquiry called resilience studies, which examines the question of how people carry their losses and burdens. We’ve all wondered this from time to time—why is it that some people can keep pushing their personal boulder up that hill, and others can’t? Why do some people shake off a loss faster?
I’m thinking about loss because I am thinking about contests. Mostly, people do not win contests. Mostly, we lose them. The Olympic Village is rife with losers. Thousands of fresh losers are minted each year by the Oscars, the Grammys, and the Emmys. Losing is the main thing that happens in contests of all kinds, but we feel strangely singled out and shamed…
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Poets & Writers (Digital) - 1 Issue, May/June 2024