And she refused to go to that miserable place he had dragged her to so many times, to hope for a thing that was unchangeable. - Jhumpa Lahiri

I think that the power of art is the power to wake us up, strike us to our depths, change us. What are we searching for when we read a novel, see a film, listen to a piece of music? We are searching, through a work of art, for something that alters us, that we weren't aware of before. We want to transform ourselves, just as Ovid's masterwork transformed me.

The imperfection became a mark of distinction about their home. Something visitors noticed, the first family anecdote that was told.

And yet it felt like an invasion of the part of his body, the physical sense that was most precious: something that betrayed him and also refused to abandon him.