Hopes and Fears

Awesome album by Keane, but anyway

"Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear."
Baruch Spinoza

I understand that hope cannot exist without fear (that said hope may fail), but can fear exist without hope? A morbid, hopeless desperation without any chance of redemption, where all is naught but an end? I keep thinking and pushing by extension: a fear of something permanent with no alternatives of do-overs - a fear of death. But people face the truths of their mortality and direct hope to their offspring. With no offspring they direct hope to humanity. With no faith in humanity, one may place hope in nature/other species. With no faith in the universal laws, one may place hope in the afterlife. Therefore I convince myself that it is a very peculiar trait of the human trait to create hope where there should exist none.

In that case, should one place hope onto the end-point, then what should they fear? Effectively, if one places all hope and belief into the afterlife, nothing on Earth can instill fear in him except through the wavering of this faith. Is it a wise choice? No one can tell. Is it practical? For all intent and purposes, it can very well keep one sane through the greatest burdens. Perhaps that accounts for the inability to remain objective to such a strong topic as religion.

This brings to mind a quote from the movie 'dangerous methods' - "why should we replace one delusion with another?" Concerning the human propensity to cultivate our own realities, it begs the metaphysical question 'can we approach truth', or rather, is it useful to pursue an absolute truth in the first place. It is not the place for a blog such as this to ponder such a question, but it does let us think. The human notions of hopes and fears - revealing insights into how we perceive and approach the world around us.

Mercy

The world offers no mercies of its own. The only mercies to be sought, is that which we can offer to each other.

Fun

It is a peculiarity, that the concept of pleasure/'fun' is accorded the person by his aptitude for work. A work-adverse person seeks pleasure in a world that needs recompense, and so he must work; regardless of the pleasure he obtains from income, job and duty looms over his head and he can never be said to be in a state of persistent pleasure. Yet for workaholics, the challenge and satisfaction afforded by his work gives him pleasure which requires no recompense. From such a perspective, it might only seem logical for everyone to delve headfirst into an unerring love of the job, yet few would do so. I, for one, fear that I might lose some special part of my personality I never knew dear to me.

I had an idea for a short story, a person given the ability to rewind time - some good ideas up in the head, but not fully fleshed out yet. Hope I can piece together a coherent article soon.

Posting

I've just posted a couple of half-finished posts, stored away in drafts forever, the original intents and ideas forever lost as the epiphanies slipped away, but nonetheless publishing allows me to reflect on what the ideas might have been, grasping at shards of faded memories. In short, posting is important. Procrastinating sucks.

Just wanted to place a little nugget of thought here - when friends have diverged from your life far enough to actually oppose your life view in a significant manner, is it justified to take action up to the point of renouncing said friendships? Purely hypothetical, but certain close acquaintances seem to be headed in that direction.

This warrants further thought, but I would love to hear comments should anyone chance on this post.

Perceptions

Speaking with two of my friends, I have been given new insight to human nature (though at an exasperating cost)with regards to conversation, conflict and perceptions.

Entertainment

By and by through major economic revolutions, people have become wealthier and more secure in resource and time. The feeling that we have traded free time for more material comforts is simply not true; research shows that just compared to a few decades back, the free time an average person has in a week has increased, albeit the time is being spent in a more uncontrolled manner.

Bastion song intepretations (Super Spoiler Article!!!)

Build That Wall (Zia's Theme)

I dig my hole you build a wall.
I dig my hole you build a wall.
One day that wall is gonna fall. /foreshadowing; also, an incessant obsession to security is a self-fulfilling prophecy -paranoia invites harm/

Gonn' build that city on a hill.
Gonn' build that city on a hill.
Someday those tears are gonna spill. /building a city on a hill hints to motivations of security, similar to stanza 1/

So build that wall and
build it strong cuz
we'll be there before too long.

Gonn' build that wall up to the sky.
Gonn' build that wall up to the sky.
Someday your bird is gonna fly. /"bird is gonna fly" - a loss of freedom; restraint of the psyche by hunkering down in material and mental sense/

Gonn' build that wall until it's done.
Gonn' build that wall until it's done.
But now you've got nowhere to run. /An ultimatum. The final choice for which there are no do-overs; the 'weapon' is the proverbial finished wall/

So build that wall and
build it strong 'cuz
we'll be there before too long.

A song with a rather straightforward message, though taking the background of the singer into context makes it more complex. Who exactly taught this song to Zia? Was it meant to be a prophesying folksong from ages past charting the route of Caelondia to ruin based on its zeitgeist? Or was it taught by her father implying that rebellion was long afoot in his mind?

Either way, it brings a very human message that a wanton devotion to security of the individual (state), at the cost of external considerations assures mutual destruction.

Mother I'm Here (Zulf's Theme)

I set my sail
fly the wind it will take me
back to my home, sweet home

Lie on my back
clouds are making way for me
I'm coming home, sweet home /implication of smooth sailing/

I see your star you left it burning for me
Mother, I'm here /belief that mother wants him back as well/

Eyes open wide
feel your heart and it's glowing
I'm welcome home, sweet home /a great joy of returning/

I take your hand
now you'll never be lonely
not when I'm home, sweet home /a belief that his return benefits mother as well i.e. he's wanted/

I see your star, you left it burning for me
Mother, I'm here

This song can be taken in one of three ways, and in a certain aspect, is bittersweet, fitting in with the melancholic tone.

The first manner is to reflect upon Zulf's unique attachment to his homeland. Born an Uraen, raised by a Caelondian and ingrained with the philosophy of peace, he was truly a man of both nations. Having stayed in Caelondia and proposing to a Caelondian woman just before the calamity happened, he had his life crumble before his eyes. However, it can be seen that Zulf holds an equally strong attachment to Ura as he "worried about his first home". Upon learning of the betrayal of Caelondia, Zulf wrecks the Bastion and heads to rally the people of Ura, hence his theme of returning to the terminals (an intepretation of 'mother').

The second manner is the consequence that befalls Zulf toward the conclusion. Battered by his country men for bringing more ruin upon them, he is attacked and left for dead, a deadly juxtaposition to the tone of this song. It is from the understanding that Zulf was a man of both nations, that we realize he is a man of no nation, no identity. He may be Uraean by race, but his upbringing and inclinations are not those of his country men, and neither do they view him as a native son of Ura. This song may reflect the bitter return to Caelondian land should the kid decide to rescue him, made more prominent by the fact that 'mother' in the chorus makes an explicit reference to Micia, the Caelondian Goddess of loss and longing.

The third manner would refer to the kid's choice of evacuation at which point Zulf's theme would not belong to Zulf himself but rather a reflection of the whole cast. Understanding the backgrounds of the main cast of characters reveal that none of them truly have a place to call home. The kid had his family taken from him, with only his work to call his 'home'; Zia was an Uraen in Caelondia with no particular inclination toward the place; Zulf as was mentioned was a man of two and no nations; even Rucks himself was a Mancer who did not agree with the ways of the institution, thus the construction of the Bastion as a fail-safe. Without roots and identities in their lives in the pre-Calamity days, there cannot really be any place to call 'home' they can return to as in the song. One can then abstract that by evacuating and starting new lives after the Calamity, the cast is effectively creating a new sense of identity and a new 'home' by leaving it all behind. This ties into Micia being the mother as well, as the cast is forced to come to terms with their loss and longing.

More pointless points to ponder:
-The degree of ties the cast had to pre-Calamity life affects the attitude they have in the end decision. Zia had just experienced a shit-hole life and is willing to evacuate and never look back; Rucks stands as a man undecided, a Caelondian through-and-through who doubts the wisdom of the governance; Zulf a man who was slowly anchoring his identity with marriage and settling down, dying to recover the world as it had been before.
-The end song being a composite is beautiful as it is interesting. The juxtaposition of pre-Calamity Caelondia's ruin and the post-Calamity search for a home is akin to the opposites of life and death, stagnation and growth.