I’ve been taking a trip down memory lane recently; revisiting some particular memories from a decade ago. How things made me feel at the time and how I am now…
Some of those memories include wandering aimlessly through the halls of my high school. It was an intimidating time in high school, barely figuring out how to talk with girls, let alone flirt with them. Everyone prepping for the SAT and ACT tests, talking with school counselors about what the next steps were to be ready for college.
Knowing I have one parent with a PhD and another who worked for NASA in the past with computers. Both highly educated and I had no idea where my future was headed. Truth be told, I’m still not sure. A wise, wrinkled green puppet once said “always in motion the future is”
My thoughts and philosophies on life have changed much in the last ten years. As I’m not going to be going to my ten year high school reunion what with concerns of COVID-19 and such, not to mention moving. I’ll take solace in the fact that the man I am now has grown up a lot. I’m far different form who I was ten years ago.
There’s times when music says what needs to be said….Then there’s scenes from cinema or TV series that have the ability to reach you on such a deep, philosophical way. There’s a scene from a series called Avatar The Last Airbender that just resonates insanely deeply with me.
The character of Zuko is a complex one. Over the series his motivations change, and when they do they are significant changes. I resonated with the character of Zuko for a few different reasons. He has a LOT of internalized rage. At himself, his situation and so forth. His sole goal throughout the series was to recapture the avatar in order to be able to return home.
Yet when he gets there he realizes that his choices weren’t the right ones and the weight of his decisions comes down on him. I’ve had a lot of that in my life. I’ve also had a lot of people like Uncle Iroh in my life who care about me and love me. I may push people away at times but the ones who truly care are there waiting for me.
Throughout the years I’ve made some decisions I most certainly should not have. I’ve struggled, I’ve persisted. Like Zuko I’ve followed my own path. It seems to be working because soon I’ll be on a plane back home to Indiana. There’s this thing about life I’ve realized, to be honest it makes me feel like this was one of the messages George Lucas wanted to share with us.
Yoda talked of how always in motion the future is while Anakin tried to change a future he saw. Leia talked about how gripping tighter meant losing more. I think all three of these character’s and their quotes are interconnected in a way. Here’s my interpretation of it, the future is always in motion and trying to grip it tighter and seize it for yourself will not end well. The more you try to fight the future or control it for yourself the more you have to lose.
There certainly are biblical references I could make here, suffice it to say that I still may not know EXACTLY where my life is going. However if realizations about actual life and how you should endeavor to live it can be found in children’s animated series and Star Wars along with other nerdy things like Harry Potter?
Well….I think there’s hope for all of us. 🙂
Rapha Yada my friends,
Richard
Holy Water, Burning Man 