It's been long said as a motto for children as well as adults, "The more you put in the more you get out." Personally to me this has always meant that if I put in a lot of hard work, the rewards will be truly the best things I could ever imagine. Not to say that this is no longer true, but sometimes the best things really just depend on factors that you cannot control or expect. I mean think about it. How often, when you come home with a report card with all A's do you say "This is the best day of my life."? I know I would say that if that would happen to me. But when you look back was it truly those moments that you had personally built up to achieve that were the best, or things that were just plain old unexpected?
In English class we read the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad in which a man goes to the Congo only to discover the opposite of what he had anticipated. He went there thinking it was going to be an adventurous and heoic trip for Europe and returned with images of savegery and death within his head. That experience changed him forever. Though it may not have made him a happier person it sure made him more knowledgeable. For him he had worked his way up via help from his aunt and others to leave on his trip to discover the Congo, tame the savages, and become a respectable man. Rather, he learned something else, and that became his greatest takeaway from his trip as opposed to the attention he tecieved when he returned.
Once was an Irish film we saw in English class in which we realized that love is unexpected. It is not solely caused by two people "Trying to make it work" as young modern society has been led to believe. Rather, love is spontameous thoroughly imperfect, and the mjority of the time takes no heed of your expectations and situation. We saw that the man fell in love with the woman even though she was married and he had a major heart break from before. We also see him able to let her go and her doing what's best for her family. We see that love is great, and bring smiles and memories with it, yet it is unexpected and you have no control over it.
By combining these two ideas from both of these areas, I have been led to believe that the best things in life are unexpected. It may sound like a cliche but let's look at it through another light.
What does best mean? Does it mean the greatest, or most memorable? Or does it simple mean the best of anything you could ask for? Is best itself an unexpected term which.....All of these are valid. But let me give you my story of realization.
I always grew up with the consequentialist "You reap what you sow" perspective on things, and though this still exists, I wonder if things just happen for a reason of unexpectedness. Watching this movie and reading this book made me want to do a quick evaluation of my life to test if whether or not it was true that the best things are unexpected. And this is what I came up with:
1.) My best friends are unexpected treasures
2.) Best memories (crazy things, moments of inspiration) were unexpected
3.) Surprise encounters unexpected
4.) African journalism unexpected
And the list could go on and on and on. I began to challenge my own thoughts about best things being
unexpected thinking will my hard headed brain that everything is expected and not percieved yada yada.
As I thought why the best things are unexpected I came to the conclusion that it was simply because they are "Best things". They are what make us happy, sad, and fill our head with random figments when we go to bed. They are things that are inexplainable to ourselves. And if their process cannot be explained either because it is spontaneous, then we can simply just accept it as "the best" because we can't fully comprehend these portions of our lives.
No longer am I a cynical pessimist about best things being unexpected. Because as I look back, I realize that the majority of moments that made me smile, the people that I have met in my life, and the experiences I have had that still make me reflect to this day were unexpected. And I would neve want to change that.
In English class we read the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad in which a man goes to the Congo only to discover the opposite of what he had anticipated. He went there thinking it was going to be an adventurous and heoic trip for Europe and returned with images of savegery and death within his head. That experience changed him forever. Though it may not have made him a happier person it sure made him more knowledgeable. For him he had worked his way up via help from his aunt and others to leave on his trip to discover the Congo, tame the savages, and become a respectable man. Rather, he learned something else, and that became his greatest takeaway from his trip as opposed to the attention he tecieved when he returned.
Once was an Irish film we saw in English class in which we realized that love is unexpected. It is not solely caused by two people "Trying to make it work" as young modern society has been led to believe. Rather, love is spontameous thoroughly imperfect, and the mjority of the time takes no heed of your expectations and situation. We saw that the man fell in love with the woman even though she was married and he had a major heart break from before. We also see him able to let her go and her doing what's best for her family. We see that love is great, and bring smiles and memories with it, yet it is unexpected and you have no control over it.
By combining these two ideas from both of these areas, I have been led to believe that the best things in life are unexpected. It may sound like a cliche but let's look at it through another light.
What does best mean? Does it mean the greatest, or most memorable? Or does it simple mean the best of anything you could ask for? Is best itself an unexpected term which.....All of these are valid. But let me give you my story of realization.
I always grew up with the consequentialist "You reap what you sow" perspective on things, and though this still exists, I wonder if things just happen for a reason of unexpectedness. Watching this movie and reading this book made me want to do a quick evaluation of my life to test if whether or not it was true that the best things are unexpected. And this is what I came up with:
1.) My best friends are unexpected treasures
2.) Best memories (crazy things, moments of inspiration) were unexpected
3.) Surprise encounters unexpected
4.) African journalism unexpected
And the list could go on and on and on. I began to challenge my own thoughts about best things being
unexpected thinking will my hard headed brain that everything is expected and not percieved yada yada.
As I thought why the best things are unexpected I came to the conclusion that it was simply because they are "Best things". They are what make us happy, sad, and fill our head with random figments when we go to bed. They are things that are inexplainable to ourselves. And if their process cannot be explained either because it is spontaneous, then we can simply just accept it as "the best" because we can't fully comprehend these portions of our lives.
No longer am I a cynical pessimist about best things being unexpected. Because as I look back, I realize that the majority of moments that made me smile, the people that I have met in my life, and the experiences I have had that still make me reflect to this day were unexpected. And I would neve want to change that.
You are awesome. Never forget.
ReplyDeleteXOXO
Nish