I appreciate you using pop culture as an example. It’s such an influence on what we think and how we perceive the world. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the horribleness around us and feel I’m wasting my time commenting on movies and television. But then I keep going, because it does matter. I hope.
Sep 6, 2023·edited Sep 6, 2023Liked by Elisa Camahort Page
Patrick Ness explores this idea in his novel A Monster Calls (as much as I love Sigourney and the amazing effects, the book is better). In the story, an adolescent boy struggles with his feelings about his mother's long and brutal battle with cancer. He wants her to live of course, but he dreams about letting her die. And he feels that he deserves punishment for those feelings, so he becomes self destructive. The Monster's stories teach him that life is messy, and the path of wisdom is to accept that.
Anyone who has watched a loved one slowly fail to disease or age knows that we can feel contradictory feelings... we can simultaneously want someone to live and want them to die AND still love that person dearly. Life is complicated. We do contain multitudes. What matters is less our feelings, but our actions. It is normal to feel a plethora of contradictory emotions, but we always have the choice in how we respond to those feelings. We can't beat ourselves up for being simply human and experiencing life and death. But we can keep our default actions in line with kindness.
Thanks for writing on this subject. All too often our society's story pushes neat soundbites and easy answers. But life does not fit in a tag line. And perhaps it is more interesting as a result.
I appreciate you using pop culture as an example. It’s such an influence on what we think and how we perceive the world. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the horribleness around us and feel I’m wasting my time commenting on movies and television. But then I keep going, because it does matter. I hope.
Patrick Ness explores this idea in his novel A Monster Calls (as much as I love Sigourney and the amazing effects, the book is better). In the story, an adolescent boy struggles with his feelings about his mother's long and brutal battle with cancer. He wants her to live of course, but he dreams about letting her die. And he feels that he deserves punishment for those feelings, so he becomes self destructive. The Monster's stories teach him that life is messy, and the path of wisdom is to accept that.
Anyone who has watched a loved one slowly fail to disease or age knows that we can feel contradictory feelings... we can simultaneously want someone to live and want them to die AND still love that person dearly. Life is complicated. We do contain multitudes. What matters is less our feelings, but our actions. It is normal to feel a plethora of contradictory emotions, but we always have the choice in how we respond to those feelings. We can't beat ourselves up for being simply human and experiencing life and death. But we can keep our default actions in line with kindness.
Thanks for writing on this subject. All too often our society's story pushes neat soundbites and easy answers. But life does not fit in a tag line. And perhaps it is more interesting as a result.