What's Your Purpose? // The Wind Waker

            When we delve into fantastical stories of fiction, be it through movies or books or video games, we accept that there is probably going to be some sort of plot. The story has a beginning an end, and the events between are a means of guiding the protagonist to said end. One of the most rewarding experiences when enjoying a complex, well-constructed work of fiction is going back, re-experiencing the story, and noticing all of the little details that guided the protagonist to the end. For example, let’s take a look at The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, my personal favorite Zelda game, mostly for sentimental reasons. (The following may contain spoilers.) Toward the beginning of the game, the sister of the protagonist, Link, is kidnapped from their home island. Driven by a desire to save her, Link joins up with some pirates, the leader of whom is known as Tetra, as a means to get to the island where she’s being held. On said island, it’s revealed that Ganondorf, the evil antagonist of the series, has returned to make yet another attempt at ruling the world. Yadda yadda yadda, fast forward a few hours, Link defeats Ganondorf, the world is saved. In the plot of the game, it’s clear that Link’s sister’s kidnapping served the purpose of getting Link off of his home island, discovering Ganondorf, and ultimately defeating him and saving the world. As such, the Link at the end of the game can look back to the beginning of the narrative and feel content, with his sister now safe, that her kidnapping ultimately served a good purpose. (End of spoilers.) Retrospective logic stating “I’m glad [event] happened, because it brought me to where I am today” becomes a problem, however, when people try to apply it at the outset of their problems. Be it breakups, bad grades, job losses, or countless other unfortunate situations, people like to look at their misfortune at the time when they occur and tell themselves, “It’s okay, everything happens for a reason.”

            This phrase is as pervasive as they come. It’s an attempt to apply some undefined purpose to events so as to rationalize why such an event would occur in the first place. It’s used to comfort, telling those in dark times to keep their head up and keep pushing forward, and while I admire the sentiment of the phrase, I cannot help but be bothered by it.

            No occurrence in the universe has an innate purpose. Additionally, the universe is (most likely) not the brainchild of some cosmic life author who constructs a plot for all of us to follow. The wind does not blow in a certain direction with the purpose of propelling a ship, the sun does not fuse hydrogen into helium with the purpose of producing light and heat for us living beings on earth, and a former significant other did not break up with their former partner with the purpose of guiding them to their soulmate (a concept I also despise, but that’s for another time). None of these actions happened for a reason; they simply happened because that’s how events played out. Any and all perceived purpose of any event in life is retroactively fitted to that experience.

            Many people are bothered by the notion that their lives and the events that occur therein have no innate purpose, but here’s the thing: it’s okay. It’s okay for two reasons. First, being purposeless is not the same as being meaningless. Second, having no innate purpose is not that same as being without purpose altogether. It’s true that the events of your life may not have purposefully lead you to where you are today, but that doesn’t mean those events were unimportant. Your life is a spectacular coincidence in this vast and irrational universe, but the minute blip in time that is your life can be deeply influential to those around you.

            The truth is, virtually nothing happens for a reason. You didn’t even happen for a reason, but here’s the good news: having no innate purpose means that your life’s purpose is whatever you want it to be. If you want your life’s purpose to be helping starving children worldwide, so be it! If you want your life’s purpose to be creating one of the most groundbreaking and medium-defining films in history, then make is so! If you want your life’s purpose to be making the world a better place for everyone you encounter, that’s a wonderful purpose! You are the creator of your life’s purpose, so promise me one thing: make it a good one.

The Don't Be a Dick Rule // Ultimate (Frisbee)

            I’ve been playing ultimate (commonly known as ultimate Frisbee) for about four years now. I started in my sophomore year of high school, but we didn’t play competitively until my junior year. I’ve also been on a summer league through a local ultimate organization. It’s a fantastic sport that’s highly under-appreciated.

            Perhaps the most interesting aspect of ultimate is that each game is largely self-governed, unless you’re playing at a highly competitive level where referees are needed. What this means is that if a foul occurs, the person fouled against must call the foul. The person who supposedly committed the foul must then choose whether they contest the call or not. (There are a variety of rules defining what happens for each call.) This level of self-governing might seem to some as a bad idea, as anyone could theoretically call a foul when none occurred. However, this is also included in the rules as a overarching rule entitled the “Spirit of the Game”, which my friends and myself jokingly refer to as the “Don’t Be a Dick Rule”:

“Ultimate relies upon a spirit of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play. Protection of these vital elements serves to eliminate unsportsmanlike conduct from the Ultimate field. Such actions as taunting opposing players, dangerous aggression, belligerent intimidation, intentional infractions, or other ‘win-at-all-costs’ behavior are contrary to the spirit of the game and must be avoided by all players.”

-11th Edition Rules, USA Ultimate

(tl;dr: every player must be a good sportsman)

            I find this rule to be one of the most interesting and unique aspects of ultimate, and also one of the most applicable to daily life. In most things, we as humans are self-governed. True, there are laws, politicians, police officers, etc. to govern us as citizens, but on a smaller scale, outside of this, we are self-governed. Every day we decide how we’re going to treat others. We decide what we’re going to say, if we’re going to smile at others, and how we’re going to act. So many people seem to forget that other people are just that: people. We are all people with goals, desires, beliefs, and opinions. There is no excuse for making the world a sucky place for others to live, so don’t do it; don’t be a dick.

Hoping for a kinder world,
I'm Michael, and this is my life.

(P.S. Today is my first post officially back, but it is also coincidentally the one-year anniversary of my first post ever on this blog. Hopefully this attempt will go better than the last.)

My Sincerest Apologies

Hello all.

I wanted to make a quick blog post just letting anyone and everyone who cares know that I am deeply sorry for neglecting this blog for so long. I got busy with school and ultimately just prioritized this under other things in my life.

That’s hopefully all about to change. I’m going to (at least attempt to) post here every Friday. My challenge to myself is to do this for an entire year. Call it a preemptive New Years resolution.

In short, expect a new post this Friday and each subsequent Friday for the foreseeable future. Thanks to any and all who viewed this blog in the past. I hope to not disappoint in the future.

Until Friday,
I’m Michael, and this is my life.        

Nostalgia vs. Speculation: Being Torn Between the Appeal of the Past and of the Future // Coca-Cola

            There's just something about a letter, a board game, a polaroid picture. Something that reaches into your heart and tugs on a deeply rooted nostalgia. Heck, even opening a classic Coca-Cola™ bottle causes this feelings to bubble up. These older activities, methods, and objects bring to us a longing for what is now considered a quaint way of living.

            This concept is fresh on my mind because I've had a pen pal for awhile now and have recently made a new one. Ironically, however, I met both of these people on the internet and, thus far in my life, have not met either in person. Interestingly enough, though, is that despite our cheaper and easier ability to communicate instantaneously via the internet, we still feel drawn to this archaic idea of sending and receiving post. There's something oddly appealing about this concept, and I'm forced to wonder: does this feeling exist simply because we dipped our toes in that era, but never needed to actually dive in? Technology developed with us, and we consequently didn't necessarily experience writing letters, playing board games (as opposed to video games), or taking photos on a film camera. These things go back to our earliest memories, but have long since been expired. Does the generation before us feel the same nostalgia for these things as we do? Or are they happy to see an improvement, as they've dealt long enough with the hassles of these outdated methods? What about the generation below us? Do/will they experience this nostalgia for these things, or will they instead feel this way for, say, a traditional video game controller? In other words, is the nostalgia we feel for these activities innate in the activities themselves, or is it assigned? 

            Conversely, each generation feels some rush of excitement when speculating on what's to come. Such is the basis of and a driving factor for the appeal of science fiction. We long for a future that has flying cars, useful robots, and a knife that toasts bread as it slices. This craving for what is to come is what creates demand for companies such as Apple. People want the new, improved, and closer-to-the-future technology. Yet, one can never actually acquire "the future technology". That would make it present technology. We strive for the future, because it's so tantalizing to us, and yet we will never be satisfied when concepts that were once of the future suddenly become the present.

The unfortunate truth is that both of these things, past and future, and inaccessible. We can get tastes of them, previews or flashbacks, but we cannot hold them. The human race is, for whatever reason, destined to forever simultaneously and paradoxically want to reach the future and relive the past; the present will seem lackluster in comparison.

The foot on which we are standing will always feel sore to he who wants to take a step.

Those are my musings for now.

I'm Michael, and this is my life.