The ever-changing, never-changing shape of chaos
triangle:
tri·an·gle /ˈtrīˌaNGɡəl/
Late Middle English: from Old French triangle or Latin triangulum, neuter of triangulus ‘three-cornered’
noun
- Closed geometric figure with three straight sides and three angles. A basic shape in geometry. Sum of the interior angles is 180°.
- An emotional relationship involving three people, especially one with negative implications. Roles in the triangle include persecutors, victims and rescuers. Variations include alliances of two people against a third. Individuals play different roles, depending on the situation or the person’s preference. Participants are locked in a cycle of drama producing shame, anger, insecurity and loneliness.
My father sat at one end of the dinner table, a poster of Broadway Joe Namath tacked to the wall so that my mother, at her end, could see her current crush while speaking to her husband. We three girls were arrayed to my father’s right, our backs against the kitchen wall. The three boys were on the other side, inevitably draining glass after tall glass of milk — to the point my father once asked my mother, “Couldn’t you start them off with water?”
