Reality Squared

I came across a quote today that catches my attention. I love quotes, can you tell? This one is from George Moore, an English philosopher.

Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn’t the dream destroy reality?

As a human, I love reality. It’s not perfect. Hell, it’s not even nice, but it’s ours. I realize that reality is only one part of our lives and that we run through it quickly to escape its grasp. Reality does kill the dream, more often than not, which is a tragedy. However, George Moore asks why the dream cannot prevail. I ask the same. Why can’t the ideal defeat the real? I know it’s difficult to do, because of our inescapable connection to reality.

I have a solution, somewhat. It involves taking the dream and putting it on the line, suiting up to take some hard knocks, and running with it. It involves tearing down the connections that bind you to what is killing your dreams, and moving from where you are to where you want to be. Nothing is permanent, nothing is stable, except that which is within you, so take that and make your dreams come true. There is no reason why reality should stand against the dream except you. Stand up, take a few hits, and move forward. No man is an army, and therefore no single man or woman can truly stand in your way. Add a new dimension to reality: the dream that rests in you. By making your dream come true, you might just make this dark, dismal, fallen world a little bit brighter.

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. –Paul Valery

Anger Management

Why do people incessantly find ways to piss me off? I believe in a free society, where freedom of speech is paramount, but what is wrong with me that people need to find ways to bitch at me? It’s getting tiresome, dealing with all the immature high-school style “issues” that come up.

What happened to the maturity that the world seemed to possess when I was just little? The whole world seemed so much different then, when people treated others with respect, dignity, and honor, regardless of their status. As a whole, is humanity doomed to a thoroughly uncouth existence with a sweet candy coating, or was I just blinded to the truth the whole time, that humanity is nothing but the scum of the world hidden behind pretty clothes?

I remember a quote from a popular, blockbuster movie from some years ago:

A person is smart. People are stupid.

I suppose that in analyzing humanity, I must remember that there are smart, intelligent people out there. I’ve met quite a few of them. However, people are stupid and do stupid things at random times, when not everything is expected and wanted. I need to manage my anger by remembering this simple idea: people truly don’t know any better. It’s an effect of our evolution, an effect of the growth of humanity, that we hurt others. Self-preservation is paramount.

Perhaps this is a call to fix my own mistakes, to change myself. Logically, this is all I can do. I can change nothing but myself.

Mythos

I’m in the process of writing the great American novel. I’m trying to get my thoughts together, and I hope to start officially writing it by the 21st of May, if not sooner. In beginning to do my preliminary research, I noticed just how deep the mythos descends into everyday life, and into the fiction that we hold so dear. Everything comes from a story, a myth about the world. It is a separate world, rife with wonderful stories and ideas of life that are incredibly romantic, if not entirely true, and give us something to dream about beyond the simple truth. Sometimes, real locations are inserted for dramatic effect, such as the river Acheron in Homer’s underworld and Babylon for the biblical mythos.

Understanding this mythos is key to the survival of my fiction, as well as the survival of the world’s fiction. Throw away what we know about the stories of this world if you dare, but your story will not succeed. I, as a person inexorably connected to humanity, do not wish to throw away the rich mythos that we have developed as a global culture. The stories, from the myths of old to the novels of today, are pertinent and even modern enough to adapt. Perhaps this mythos is what keeps us human and keeps us from becoming slaves to science, keeps us creative and adaptive when no hope exists. This is my hope, but I may just be biased. I am, after all, human.

Surreal Mornings

I’m having one of those mornings. I’m sure you know what kind of morning I mean. Last night, at around 12:30am, my dad was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. He was having chest pains and indigestion, so you can imagine how rapidly the ambulance got here. I had the expectation that they’d keep him for a few days, foregoing his orthopedic knee surgery. When I woke up at 7:50 this morning, there was my dad, sitting at his chair in the kitchen. If this was a cartoon, this would be about the time where my jaw would drop to the floor.

So, if you’ll excuse my stub-post and my curiosity, I can’t figure out for the life of me how you can be taken away in an ambulance at twelve-thirty and get back at four-thirty. It’s just been a surreal morning for me.

What I Wouldn’t Give…

The statement “what I wouldn’t give” made me think about the question “just what wouldn’t I give up?” I know that I wouldn’t give my life for anything. I don’t think I’d give my pen, either. I don’t think I’d give my books, my writing, my paper supply, or my idea mill. I probably wouldn’t give up my soda stash, my friends, my health, my family, or my upbringing. I don’t think I would give up my education, my responsibilities, my fun, or anything of the sort. There are a few things that I don’t think anyone would give up.

Where did that statement come from? I figure that Mark Twain had something to do with it, because it really is quite humorous to that extent, and he was the master of exaggeration. Either way, however, it makes one think. So, readers faithful and random, I leave you with a simple question: What wouldn’t you give up?

Power Hunger

Last night, I was watching The Queen, and something occurred to me. The power that the queen wields is an amazing thing. The people come to her after an election and ask her permission to form a government. She, as the movie aptly puts it, is the head of state, the sovereign of England. I am amazed at the power that she wields over not only a nation but a world. Even with the addition of Parliament, she is still a powerful woman.

That, of course, led me to think about the effects of this power on the normal, everyday human being. It certainly does take a strong man or woman to wield power. It has been said, after all, that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and even in British history we can see that this is the truth. If I was to wield that power myself, I cannot imagine what I would do with it. I figure I’d use the power, first and foremost, to give myself a million dollars to spend on stupid stuff that doesn’t matter, then I would get bored and figure out other creative ways of using and abusing that power. I am not destined for power, nor do I seek it.

Others, as you may well know, wield power incorrectly, leading to great pain and suffering at their hands. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Lenin have abused this power in one way or another, though I am willing to concede that all of these and more had a wonderful opportunity to use their power constructively. What occurred that corrupted these people, made them so power-hungry that humanity itself was broken down? Can it be identified through scientific research? Can it be identified at all? Is it just a by-product of the absolute power wielded by the elite? I’m not certain.

What I am certain of is this: not all power needs to be absolute to change the minds and opinions of the world. The pen holds a sway over people, as does a silver tongue. A good cause weighs as much as the power suppressing it. To wield absolute power is not for me. I am content in wielding the power of sway: a safer power, one that constantly keeps the public in mind, rather than dismissing the masses as nothing more than a battery for society and a bank for their expenditures. This is the power of the common people.