Manners of resilience

Fred: Why is my first response to this scene searching for some deeper meaning?
Sophie: Probably because the two figures are grouped in a constellation which you’d never actually see in real life. “Artists are only original when they don’t slavishly copy reality, but combine its elements with imagination.” That’s Goya – paraphrased, anyway – who masterfully implemented it in his sketchbooks.
Fred: Strange. The moment I saw the title “Manners of Resilience,” I thought of his drawings. Among all those desperate, miserable figures, he often includes characters who radiate a certain inner strength.
Robert: Okay, the man carrying the heavy load as a symbol of resilience makes sense to me right away: you shoulder a burden with endurance, until you’ll eventually set it down. But the tightrope walker?
Kate: She certainly embodies another way of dealing with adversity. Sometimes it’s useless to tackle a crisis with brute force; instead, you can try to stay light on your feet and not sink into it.
Helen: It’s a misunderstanding anyway to equate resilience with heroic steadfastness. Depending on the situation, a robust reaction or rather an elastic one might be helpful.
Conrad: Even merely talking about reactions narrows our view of perseverance. People who proactively clear out bad situations before they turn fatal also exercise their resilience. We truly have much scope of action when it comes to mastering life’s challenges.
Fred: Including stoic composure in the face of personal calamity – as Goya practised himself.