On Public Image vs. Private life and its implications 2 June 2009
I’ve recently revived my passion for Ricky Martin (especially his music in Spanish) and surfed the net to find any updates on his situation (it’s been about 8-9 years since I was infatuated, so…) and all I could find (even on VERY SERIOUS sites!!), some or at least most of the “news” is about him being gay or not. Yes, he is a public figure, but a musician is ONLY a public figure. One cannot claim to know an artist just by listening to his/her music (for example) and by getting a hint of some detail or another in that particular artist’s life.
Since it’s so hard to separate the public and the private personas, lowly characters will rise (out spite? being complexed of their own nothingness?) and use any excuse to drag the famous in mud with allegations related to their sexuality, religion & co. Yes, I know that it makes some of you people feel better, but…
What’s In A Story? Sliders Through Worlds: A Fantasia Odyssey 1 June 2009
Sometimes it’s hard to get inside a story, other times it’s incredibly hard to stay in one. Either way, people have been drawn to these little windows to somebody else’s life. It is very interesting how much we can learn by seeing with another’s eyes, even though, one might add that you are not fully mature until you have been through everything and tasted all the fruits of Mother Earth. Indeed, stories could be seen as some sort of a third degree encounter with a possible YOU that goes through things that YOU could, would or should go through. It walks the plank for you, it loves for you, it dies for you… You are somewhere in a safe, detached position, from where you can observe, learn and feel without being touched. From here, you are obliged to grow to a new level of understanding, some would argue. It’s like all those generals who plan and lead the battles from their safe heaven drinking their coffee and/or tea, but there is one detail that separates you from them: you are a mere viewer; you watch the action as it unfolds, but you cannot interfere. Or can you?
Michael Ende has proven that you can, in fact, enter a story and change it, even save it. The story of Bastian and his adventure has travelled all around the world. Some of us grew up with the movie, without even knowing it is actually inspired by a book – a common mistake in a screen-oriented society. Anyway, we have to understand the importance of this occurrence: it is a movie that is inspired by a book about a book that is not only 3D, but fully interactive and even more! The characters interact and travel in and out the story, the reader becomes a character as soon as he realizes he holds the key to these – let’s call it – parallel universes. And this fictional world framed in another equally fictional universe is eaten by a black hole, that is the Nothing. And here lies the catch: Fantasia and the real world depend on each other to exist. The stories cannot exist without people knowing and spreading them further, and people cannot evolve as complex beings without these little games of imagination.
Indeed, stories are games of imagination. To tell a story you must first see it yourself, become the conductor of an orchestra of words and possibilities. Even though the listener is not supposed to have an active position (externally), he or she has a very important role in the process: the listener must direct his/her own movie, imagining what is being told, creating possible scenarios, maybe even grow affectionate of one or more characters in the narration. You have to get out of yourself to really listen to a story. You can become one of the characters, you can enter the story as yourself (see The Neverending Story, again), you can alter that universe the way you want to, you are the God of your own world. Children often use this process when they play. They have this amazing capacity of becoming a better (fantastic?) version of themselves, they can and will let their imagination flow, there are no limits, there is no adult telling them there is no Santa Claus, they travel with Santa in his slay, even though they seem to be in their room playing. Nobody can say they live in a lie, for them the magic world of their minds is as real as the normal life they lead with their family, friends, etc.
That’s why stories are preferred by children and denied by adults as childish, immature, unreal. But here we can easily see a huge mistake when making these allegations: stories are not only the “Once upon a time…” tales with princes fighting dragons and princesses trapped in ivory towers. We see movies, we read books, we even make pretend on several occasions. And we’re not children. This paradox would hurt the feelings of many, but at the same time, there is no paradox. The apparent contradiction is itself a fiction created by adults who wanted to justify their actions as being mature and reasonable. It’s one more way to neutralize the so-called feminine element that threatened the enlightened man’s way. I am not trying to make a feminist argument, but this essay somewhat leads to a conclusion that also includes such a statement. Nor am I claiming that stories are feminine, nor that they are masculine. They are merely irrational and deeply linked to our subconscious, some would say. I can’t say I don’t agree, but the problem is much more complicated. It would be like trying to reduce the String Theory to a Newtonian point of view. There is no point in denying the bad image “childish” elements have in our society, but there is no point in denying that they cannot be erased.
That is what Michael Ende is trying to tell us in Neverending Story. A world without imagination can very well be eaten by the Nothing, as a spider leaves his prey’s shell, but the prey is long dead… We must not forget to believe and to imagine, it is in our very nature as human beings to let the mind fly and the soul be emerged in Fantasia. The world is real, stories are real if we want them to be.
Until the next time, ki o tsukete kudasai (take care!!)!!!
Signed,
Moi
For Cat Owners and Not Only!! :-D:-D
I’ll end this post here, but I’d like to hear your opinions about cats, pets & co!!
Until the next time, ki o tsukete neeeeee!!! (take care!!)
Signed,
Moi
On the Church, money and the origin of Christianity 31 May 2009
It’ s not that I’m a religious fanatic, but I must admit this is one of the things that interests me (at least…). Anyway, I was overcome by guilt and , this morning, I headed to the Roman-Catholic church (no pun intended, I will just be refering to individuals, not by a longshot am I aiming to the whole Roman-Catholic Church as an institution!) nearby (NOTE: I am Greek-Catholic, so it’s compatible, as there are no GC churches in my neighbourhood, or I have yet to discover one, and I’m somewhat lazy on Sunday mornings…). I said to myself that I shouldn’t be bothered by the design too much (which is closer to a communist cantina than a place of worship), but maybe if the priest is inspiring enough, I will get enough motivation and energy to start on my essays (end of term, exams, papers, stression, & co). To my horror, I was late (mea culpa!) – ummm, some would say that being late is synonym to being Sonia – and I arived just in time for the communion and I could only stay in the back where other late-commers were discussing the state of the neighbourhood, economy, etc….. Anyway, what got me really pissed off was the priest talking like the average “smecheras de cartier” (a term for the local – as in neighbourhood – wiseasses who usually have a fast car and a hot chick and roll money in and out with magic-like tricks) asking in the “smecheras” specific conduct and language the congregation to donate more money than usual.
In any case, I might be used to sermons that raise your spirits and make you cry or question yourself rather than institutionalized begging motivated by some wood added to the walls. That’s how they do it in my – provincial – hometown anyway, we may be left behind the times, maybe priesthood HAS become a profession after all…
I remember some eons ago I read a large book called the Bible. It might be my own lipsus, but I don’t remember Jesus lavishing in expensive cloth, drinking the finest wines and driving a Ferarri… The Church has evolved so much in 2000 years that it completely forgot about its roots? Wasn’t the essence of being Christian preparing for the live that has yet to come? If we glue ourselves to this world and are preoccupied only with material gains without considering our soul and what we leave behind, don’t we spit on Jesus’ teachings? It’s no secret that Christianity is based on belief, like any other religion, but if we only believe in the shadows and we don’t turn to contemplate the light behind, isn’t that denying the basic principles of Christianity (be it Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, or any sub-division or the adaptation of the above)?
The thing I want to point out here is not necessarily a pertinent account of the present-day situation of the Christian Church(es), but merely an opinion of a practicant of the above-named religion who needs inspiration rather than just another reminder of why I need to go to church (for that I can just turn the TV on, and, oh, by Jove, how great the shit I see, how glorious is every channel’s worship of the porcelain god!).
What I would like to learn is how the situation is in other Religions, as seen from the inside.
I’ll end my post here hoping for a further development soon. ^^
Minna san, ki o tsukete kudasai! (Everybody, take care!!)
Signed,
Moi
New Beginnings, Change – The Fool, Death, Falling Off The Tower 18 May 2009
I’ve had some idle days lately, I can’t say I was bored, but, at the same time, inactivity is starting to get on my nerves. Nevertheless, being idle has its advantages for sure. I can basically do nothing and nobody will complain, but my guilt. Guilt is such a tricky friend, ain’t she? But at the same time doing nothing makes my head heavy. You know the feeling? When your head becomes somewhat hot and you feel that you’re gonna choke unless you stick it in a bucket of cold mountain water? Or jut take an Aspirine for that matter…
Anyway, I’ve decided that from now on I’ll never have idle-idle moments. I’ve made a resolution to get as close to the Zen ideal as possible. As possible is the key element here! I’m a lazy one, I get bored quickly, but still, when I’m determined to do something, I become fanatic about that particular something…
So, I make a promise, no more Idle-Sonia from now on. I’ll even start writing, and I’ll show it to you guys too. But for now, I need to find myself a good bucket of cold mountain water (^^) . You know the kind? The one that’s so cold that it hurts when you drink it. That’s my favourite water, it kills your thirst, but it has an excess-blocker at the same time. It’s like it’s got magic in it and you are not supposed to comsume to much, or else you’ll die… No wonder mountain-grass is usually greener, it’s for sure because of that magical water!
Well, I’ll go now, I’ll continue tomorow, so till then,
Ki o tsukete kudasai (take care ^^),
Sonki
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