One of the reasons I like to read so much is that I am able to see the world through different eyes, to experience different kind of perspectives, and to have things happen in an accelerated, yet controlled environment. I like to give myself over to the heroes and let them take me where they will. There is comfort, of course, in knowing that I can put the book down at any moment, but the best books are those that can engage me to such a point that I don't want to put them down. I can feel emotionally invested in the character, rooting for the eventual (and almost always expected) victory of the good guys, and pulling for them while they overcome struggles.
Honestly, it's not that difficult for me to do - I am an inherently empathetic and deeply feeling person, and I've found myself in tears at the loss of a fictional character I've only read about in a book. And I'm OK with that.
One of the most used and useful tools that an author has is the existential crisis. These crises come typically from both internal and external struggles - the hero finds that friends are not trustworthy, that special abilities fail or have limits previously unknown, and that the villain has some kind of secret or skill that trumps that of the hero. Even though we know the formula - the good guys will almost always overcome - what we enjoy is the journey, the exposition, and the humanizing aspects we can relate to. Because we CAN relate to them, after a fashion. We seldom find ourselves in as neat a package as most stories' heroes. Our lives are infinitely more complex, and as such it can be comforting to see others overcome difficulty.
But these complexities are what make real life so much more difficult. And messy. And there's no "happily ever after..." because the ever after is seldom persistently blissful, and (in my view) where the real heroes are proved. Heroes are proved by consistent adherence to principles over time. Each test becomes its own crisis, and each obstacle begins the process again. Forever.
I don't mean this to sound negative - the glory of overcoming such obstacles is not the realm of superheroes found in stories. Rather, the venerable folks who find themselves not ever giving up, but persisting and carrying on... that's the real test, and where the real accolades should lie.
Please also note that I'm not talking about specific situations, but rather on a pattern of effort that leads to something sublime. Of course mistakes are made, lessons are learned, and progress is achieved. But as long as the direction one is headed is the desired direction, heading toward the desired outcome, then no effort is in vain. And perhaps it is in our failures or our struggles that the refining and sublime efforts can be found.
Because, like the heroes in the stories, we find ourselves stripped of everything that seemed of comfort. We find ourselves pushed out of the safe harbors, which perhaps were never that sheltering anyway, and out into the open sea. We find our boat leaks and sinks. We find that our life preserver is moldy and falling apart, and in vain we try to keep it together. We find ourselves at last, lost at sea and completely at the mercy of the wind and the waves. But WE FIND OURSELVES there, and only there, in ways that are so real and deep and true. We overcome by succumbing... We conquer by admitting defeat... And we win by losing ourselves.
I am not a fatalist, either, in spite of how that last paragraph sounded. I believe that we can and do shape the destiny of our souls, and that we can definitely have an impact on the world around us. But I believe that the personal journey each of us is on is a marvelous synthesis of what happens to us and how we react to that, how we choose to grow ourselves, and how we decide to make use of that growth once it has occurred.
I love you, whoever you are. I admire you for your strength and persistence, in spite of the wind and the waves. We pray for strength, and are then given trials to test that strength. I am inspired and heartened by the examples of truly heroic capacity that surrounds me. Perhaps, when I am most lost and thwarted by the winds and waves, perhaps that's when I take the time to look around and see that I am not alone after all.
Honestly, it's not that difficult for me to do - I am an inherently empathetic and deeply feeling person, and I've found myself in tears at the loss of a fictional character I've only read about in a book. And I'm OK with that.
One of the most used and useful tools that an author has is the existential crisis. These crises come typically from both internal and external struggles - the hero finds that friends are not trustworthy, that special abilities fail or have limits previously unknown, and that the villain has some kind of secret or skill that trumps that of the hero. Even though we know the formula - the good guys will almost always overcome - what we enjoy is the journey, the exposition, and the humanizing aspects we can relate to. Because we CAN relate to them, after a fashion. We seldom find ourselves in as neat a package as most stories' heroes. Our lives are infinitely more complex, and as such it can be comforting to see others overcome difficulty.
But these complexities are what make real life so much more difficult. And messy. And there's no "happily ever after..." because the ever after is seldom persistently blissful, and (in my view) where the real heroes are proved. Heroes are proved by consistent adherence to principles over time. Each test becomes its own crisis, and each obstacle begins the process again. Forever.
I don't mean this to sound negative - the glory of overcoming such obstacles is not the realm of superheroes found in stories. Rather, the venerable folks who find themselves not ever giving up, but persisting and carrying on... that's the real test, and where the real accolades should lie.
Please also note that I'm not talking about specific situations, but rather on a pattern of effort that leads to something sublime. Of course mistakes are made, lessons are learned, and progress is achieved. But as long as the direction one is headed is the desired direction, heading toward the desired outcome, then no effort is in vain. And perhaps it is in our failures or our struggles that the refining and sublime efforts can be found.
Because, like the heroes in the stories, we find ourselves stripped of everything that seemed of comfort. We find ourselves pushed out of the safe harbors, which perhaps were never that sheltering anyway, and out into the open sea. We find our boat leaks and sinks. We find that our life preserver is moldy and falling apart, and in vain we try to keep it together. We find ourselves at last, lost at sea and completely at the mercy of the wind and the waves. But WE FIND OURSELVES there, and only there, in ways that are so real and deep and true. We overcome by succumbing... We conquer by admitting defeat... And we win by losing ourselves.
I am not a fatalist, either, in spite of how that last paragraph sounded. I believe that we can and do shape the destiny of our souls, and that we can definitely have an impact on the world around us. But I believe that the personal journey each of us is on is a marvelous synthesis of what happens to us and how we react to that, how we choose to grow ourselves, and how we decide to make use of that growth once it has occurred.
I love you, whoever you are. I admire you for your strength and persistence, in spite of the wind and the waves. We pray for strength, and are then given trials to test that strength. I am inspired and heartened by the examples of truly heroic capacity that surrounds me. Perhaps, when I am most lost and thwarted by the winds and waves, perhaps that's when I take the time to look around and see that I am not alone after all.
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