The Opposite of Unravel is Ravel?

# of balls of wool bought this week – 5
# of letters sent – 1
# of novels read – 1 (The Coma by Alex Garland)

I like the word ‘unravel’. A story unravels as it releases its secrets and all becomes clear. A ball of wool unravels as you pull out the knots. A scarf also unravels when it is torn. A person unravels under immense pressure. Unravelling can be good and it can be unnerving.

It is a motion, that takes something entangled/knotted/woven and releases it into a single line.

So what is the raveling that surely must happen before the unravelling?

The messy knot in your hair/wool/fishing line that seems to come from no gesture of your own. The intricate looping and twisting of a thread purposely made into a cloth. The crafting of a complex story line that will keep the reader guessing and reading right to the end. Raveling seems to be our purpose, making things complex so that they may also be of use.

Yes, I like the word unraveling, because it speaks of a simplicity that we are always trying to reach but are incapable of living.