Dare to Dwell

"Chronic remorse... is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrong-doing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.... Art also has its morality, and many of the rules of this morality are the same as, or at least analogous to, the rules of ordinary ethics. Remorse, for example, is as undesirable in relation to our bad art as it is in relation to our bad behaviour. The badness should be hunted out, acknowledged and, if possible, avoided in the future. To pore over the literary shortcomings of twenty years ago, to attempt to patch a faulty work into the perfection it missed at its first execution, to spend one's middle age in trying to mend the artistic sins committed and bequeathed by that different person who was oneself in youth-- all this is surely vain and futile. And that is why this new Brave New World is the same as the old one. Its defects as a work of art are considerable; but in order to correct them I should have to rewrite the book-- and in the process of rewriting, as an older, other person, I should probably get rid not only of some of the faults of the story, but also of such merits as it originally possessed. And so, resisting the temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone and to think about something else." ~Huxley

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Verisimilitude

If I were to tell you that today was July 11th, most people would probably agree. Is it likely? Of course.

But what if I asked you what people really thought of you? Something much more mysterious and ambiguous? You'd probably think, "what's the big deal?" Right? I know what my friends think, who they are. Do you? What if, behind the scenes, they held a vital secret that they never let you know? What if they really hated you? Is it likely? No, it can't be. That's impossible. Are you positive? Having doubts?



I would like to think that most people are not under pressure with these questions. But it just shows that sometimes we stick with people maybe we really don't want to be with at all, or shouldn't be. Then why do we stay together? Sympathy? Goodness? Heart? History? Family? Is our feigned gratitude any more accepted than our genuine animosity?

On the contrary, are there people you know that totally pass you by as if they were belittling you, as if they were simply ignorant of your existence? Not acknowledging. Is it possible that these people truly want to be with you, appreciate your friendship, even love you? Are they accustomed to this negative behavior because they're tied in another relationship? Because they're jealous? Is this likely? Are you serious? I don't even want to be with a person that acts as someone they are not. Not even the slightest feeling for him or her surfaces?

Let's be frank. Despite our natural instincts to be a good person, that does not mask our fears. That does not eliminate the sudden urge to deceive others and hide from reality. It's sad because they try so hard to be good people. You can tell they work for it. But will they ever tell the truth? Will they ever realize how much more they hurt others, and especially themselves when they run away from what is? Regardless, you can't be purely happy in these circumstances. Can you? Is it really likely? Doesn't this lack verisimilitude?
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)