tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post2381974971283951800..comments2024-01-22T05:21:28.419-05:00Comments on IshtaBlogs: Ruminations on Entitlement, Fan Culture, and Life in the 21st CenturyIshta Mercuriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17776946702988283453noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post-1335432211494410562016-09-30T19:47:59.929-04:002016-09-30T19:47:59.929-04:00And here's the longer reply: I think in the mi...And here's the longer reply: I think in the microcosm of this world, I AM pretty much a mosquito on the wall of life. Put another way: If someone had told me twenty years ago that this is where I would be now, I would have thought they were underestimating me. I have the hindsight and life experience to understand that I got myself here through various life choices that I made, some recently and some not so recently, and that if I want to get out of here, I need to start making different choices. This is my mess, and I have to either learn to love it, or clean it up. (And if you think about it, mosquitoes don't do nothing. They're out there keeping pitcher plants alive and infecting birds with avian flu. But one mosquito isn't going to cause any grand-scale changes. A species will not rise or fall because of one mosquito's existence.)<br /><br />On the macrocosm level, though, we're all mosquitoes on the wall of life. If the wall is big enough, even something planet-sized looks like a mosquito next to the wall. Which means that in a counterintuitive sort of way, everything humans do matters equally. (You could look at it another way, I guess, which is that there is always something bigger, but there's no way to ever be satisfied with that line of thinking until you've either blown up the sun or created a new one, and that's more influence than any human has a right to have.)<br /><br />So this is what I focus on: This understanding that I am here, now, on this slip of a world, doing the best I can with the time that I have, for no reason other than that I am here. It is all any of us can hope for, and it has to be enough.Ishta Mercuriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17776946702988283453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post-38305477592977772962016-09-01T18:15:49.890-04:002016-09-01T18:15:49.890-04:00Oh, thank you! Thank you so much for the time it t...Oh, thank you! Thank you so much for the time it took to read and comment. Hugs forever for this. And yes, we must get together again soon! We have much to catch up on.Ishta Mercuriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17776946702988283453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post-47860822441660331852016-09-01T16:46:52.923-04:002016-09-01T16:46:52.923-04:00I am now dying to know what that book was that mad...I am now dying to know what that book was that made you feel like a doomed sidekick in a cautionary tale, but also to take you out to tea and argue passionately that you are NOT a mosquito on the wall of life, either. <br /><br />I know you're not asking for pity here, but this is something I care a lot about, because I've been working through a lot of similar issues in the past few months myself. And one of the many conclusions I've come to is that whether or not you or I achieve the current worldly ideal of fame or success, or even live up to our own hopes and ambitions, is immaterial to our worth as human beings or the ultimate value of our contribution to the world. In fact we often get our priorities completely wrong, because our perspective on what (and who) matters and why is so limited. I keep thinking of the episode in 1 Samuel where the prophet is looking at Jesse's tall, handsome, kingly-looking eldest son and thinking, "Surely this is the Lord's anointed," and God warns, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."<br /><br />What I've come to realize is that whenever I look at my career or my life from my own limited perspective of what I think matters to other people or what I'd like to achieve, I get fretful and discontent (much like the shippers in that very interesting article, who can't be satisfied with anything less than their personal vision for the characters becoming "canon"). But if I see my writing as a chance to give something to others and enrich my readers' lives in some way, however small, then it doesn't matter if I get the six-figure advance or the publicity or the awards and accolades or not. Because it's not about me, and that's okay.<br /><br />I don't know if that makes any sense, but the upshot of it all is that this is a very good blog post, even if it sounds like I'm arguing with you. Also, that we should get together again for tea or lunch or something soon. :)R.J. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04503519800068573393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post-4011670113656373592016-08-20T00:02:30.569-04:002016-08-20T00:02:30.569-04:00Thanks! And I think you make a good point - everyo...Thanks! And I think you make a good point - everyone needs something to strive for. And really, if we zoom way out and look at the very very big picture, even the biggest marks we make are so small as to be insignificant, which I think is a very good reason to look for pleasure and satisfaction in everyday things. Goals are important, but it's the stuff of everyday life that is the cake.Ishta Mercuriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17776946702988283453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post-85753418093313346122016-08-18T20:10:26.238-04:002016-08-18T20:10:26.238-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.catherinemjohnson.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14682281308178996823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8763911471376369172.post-8729534058584657002016-08-18T20:10:15.189-04:002016-08-18T20:10:15.189-04:00Wow Ishta that's a great post! I think people ...Wow Ishta that's a great post! I think people are happiest when they are striving towards something and making a mark should be the icing not the cake.catherinemjohnson.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14682281308178996823noreply@blogger.com