Life, the Universe, and Fairy Tales (or "Why I hate debates.")

I recently got really into Douglas Adams and started reading the Hitchhiker's Guide, which quickly became one of my favorite things ever conceived be a human being!

This series was actually one of those I had been meaning to pick up for a really long time but never got around to, and it couldn't have come to be at a better time, since I was going through a bit of a crisis at the time.

An existential crisis.

Try and imagine what it could be like to realize you're pathetically insignificant in the grand scheme of the entire universe which most likely is no scheme at all!

It boggled me and I couldn't focus--I couldn't do anything!

Want a better idea? Danisnotonfire's got a great explanation of the feeling!

Point is, I was hitting an all time low and needed a pick me up, and lo! The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was waiting for me in movie form. It was exactly what I needed at the time!

After absorbing its story plot and getting to read the novels, including buying the books, I was cured! I felt better right away. I even try and find strength in the fact nothing I do will ever matter in the grand scheme of things.

It makes failure easier to settle with, which is important for me to learn to live with.

There's just one problem.

I now hate arguments.

This wouldn't be a problem if college classes didn't involve so much debating.

And the sad part is, my English teacher told me it's a good thing I learned this lesson now while I'm still a budding adult in legal terms.

Let's think about this one for a second: a high school English teacher of mine once said "I'm not right, I just know I'm not wrong." With this in mind, try and do a legitimate research paper. There's no word count and you love the topic. Just be satisfied with your decision.

I honestly can't do that. There's no such thing as a right answer and if you're open-minded enough, common consensus aside, almost every point can be validated!

Why do we debate? Why do I have to debate? To make more consensuses in the world?

Well I don't feel like it! I just can't muster up the energy necessary to try and shoot down the rest of the world.

We're a marble in the uncharted backwaters or the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the solar system. Don't even begin to try and pit me against the rest of the universe.

CS Lewis once said ". . .someday, you'll be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
I think this is what he meant.

It's easier to create consensus with good fictional tales based on reality than debating endlessly. And sure, maybe once in a while a silly argument or a fresh debate could be fun to have, but a full-scale mock-congress? Or a mock-trial? Or more research papers?

Jesus Christ no.

I am done with these stupid research papers.

With love
Nick Strange

Stop trying to "figure it out" already.

Today, I found an image of the original description of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S cast (or what tumblr claimed to be the original description for the cast).

Monica, Rachel, Pheebs, Ross, Joey, and Chandler haven't change much at all from that original description at all, and I love them for it. These characters played a central part in my childhood, and to this day hold a special spot in my heart for it.

What managed to get me thinking was what they were all doing together--they were "all trying to figure it out".

It occurred to me no one I've ever known--even my parents or aunts, grandmother, or great-grand mother (from the stories I've heard), sisters or older friends--have ever really "figured it out". And then I realized how a once solemn, profound and calming phrase was actually really vague.

Does anyone know what "it" actually is?

We can usually assume "it" is another phrase for "life". It's actually a pretty accurate representation. Life is vague. Life is scary and all-encompassing and we have to cope with "it" since there's no getting around existing, less you're dead.

I sincerely hope you're not dead. I love you all.

Unless of course, you're actually a dead ghost reading this over someone's shoulder. In which case, good on you, ghosty! I love you too!

But I digress: "figuring it out" is an impossible task, as tangible as it may seem when you try and think about it. To figure out what life is supposed to be about for you is assuming the purpose is already set before you're even alive. Or that you're going to have things smooth out as soon as you find the one thing you want to do more than anything else with your life.

It implies deliberate planning. It implies smooth choices or smooth endings. Or at the very least that soul-crushing endings cannot occur. That those things happen to other people, but you've got "it" figured out so you're okay, right?

No one has this. No one's got the perfect life, and no one should expect themselves or others to have this wonderful life even a fraction of the time.

Among the glossy autobiographies and True Hollywood stories or even pretty and cutsey Facebook updates, we lose sight of the hard details and life's challenges each and every one of us faces every day.

So if you're scared, or angry, or saddened today, take a deep breath. Relax. You are in very good company. The rest of the world, actually. Eventually, you're gonna be okay.

With Love
Nikola Strange.