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April 08, 2004
"The main thing that separates happy people from other people is the feeling that you're a practical item, with a use, like a sweater or a socket wrench."
Happy Birthday, Barbara Kingsolver! Our title today is courtesy of one of my favorite authors is celebrating a birthday today. I highly recommend Animal Dreams.
Personally, I hope I'm more useful then a socket wrench or sweater, but I see what she means.
I've been really into watching old episodes of Xena lately. It must be my love for the Hero's Journey and my need to constantly come up with new ideas for writing about modern myths. Last night I was watching a few episodes from season three "The Deliverer," "Gabrielle's Hope," and "The Debt." These episodes really were a turning point in the mythology of the Xena universe. In "The Deliverer," Gabrielle kills a woman in the temple of god of darkness, Dahak. By giving up her "blood innocence" Dahak is able to plant a seed of darkness in the form of a child in Gabrielle. In the next episode "Gabrielle's Hope" Gabrielle gives birth to the daughter of Dahak, whom she names Hope. These two episodes really focus on what Gabrielle thought she was going to do in her world. She says something to the effect that "I was the one who was going to stop the cycle of violence." Gabrielle believed in hope, forgiveness, the power to change and love. I began to think, once again, what my purpose in this life is and how I need to fulfill that purpose.
My thoughts always seem to go back to Father Chacour in the Middle East, to the idea that I am here to be a peacemaker of some kind, like him. I keep hoping that my application for teacher licensure will come through so that I can start simply as a peacemaker by teaching the next generation of humans about what is happening in today's world. By reaching out and showing them that if enough people believe in the powers of forgiveness that eventually the good things will outweigh the bad.
So, yes, ultimately, despite my cynicism I am an optimist. I'd like to say that I'm a realistic optimist. I know things can't always change without struggle, without persistence, without some kind of a fight. But that dreamer in me always peeks out, knocks my noggin and tells me, keep fighting...and one day we humans will finally get "it."
Posted by Sarah at April 8, 2004 10:34 AM
Comments
Bravo, fellow realistic optomist! I have often thought of myself that way -- that I expect bad will happen not because it has to, but because history shows it probably will (personal or global issues both). But I do, in all my heart, believe we can break these cycles ... and that some day, with enough of us bending the world together, we will.
Posted by: Deb at April 8, 2004 03:02 PM