For most people, the first knot that they ever learn to tie is the one that keeps their shoes on. I had to learn how to tie my shoes before going to kindergarten. Whether you started buying penny loafers to avoid tying your shoe lace knots, or you became an ace at tying your shoes laces, knots are a big part of our world. I was not a Boy Scout, so I never studied knots, and since I have never sailed anything, I didn’t learn any seafaring knots either. I am great at letting my stomach get tied up in knots, but real knots of utility escape me. Basically, I can tie a square knot, a slip knot, and occasionally, when pushed by the situation, a non-slippage figure-eight knot. Most of the time, however, I am baffled by a mysterious array of knots that might be found in the world–strange and complex entanglements of cords, ropes, and strings that keep things in place. Nothing, however, is more complex than trying to untie the chaotic mess of your shoe strings at the end of the day which have inevitably created a tangle that would defeat even the great Houdini. Some people like to be tied up, but then again, the world is filled with more mysteries than than are dreamt of in my philosophy. The knot, whether literal or metaphorical, stands for complication, chaos, mystery, and strength. Knots are either being tied or untied, depending on both the purpose of the knot and the end of its task.