By. Dr. Susan Lucas
Hibernation
We finally give up our pursuit and sit down so that we may begin to think. Our skins begin to crust over, and a cocoon forms around us. In this cocoon, our thoughts magnify, and we receive revelations. We feel our skin, and we realize how beautiful we are. We realize how good it feels to be different, to unique, to have our own ideas, thoughts, and desires. Like Neo, we begin to lose our faith in fate, destiny, or chance because we do not like a God that plays dice, and we do not like the idea that we are not in control of our lives. Society taught us that it was a sin to be different.
We feel that it is a sin to be the same. Now, we leave the rest of the world behind. We are no longer caterpillar. There was a time when a dream would take over our very souls, and we would imagine that we were Icarus falling from the sky. We would scratch the sky so that answers may rain upon us. Inside of this cocoon, we are separate from the rest of the world, and the answer feels nearer than ever. And then, similar to the flash of an explosion, revelations rain inside of our hearts. A voice screams out that the Oracle at Delphi was wrong when it preached us to “know thyself.” A voice screams out that the greatest sin in the universe is to ask the world the question we have asked all along: WHO AM I? It is a greater sin than to ask that question than it is to kill a million people. To ask such a question is a sin against humanity, a sin against the self, a sin against god. The voice screams out, “To ask “Who am I” is to give up all power of one could possibly be. The second we ask this question, give the world the power to decide who we are. We give our parents, we our teachers, our friends all the power to decide who we are. There are certain inalienable rights every single person has. These are rights that not even God himself can trespass on. The greatest of these rights is the right to be exactly who we are to be. The Oracle at Delphi is wrong. Power is not in “knowing thyself”. The truth is that the sacred words shall be, “Declare Thyself.”
To know thyself is to place your identity in the hands of the universe. We are all born a tabula rasa, and society imprints its values and views on us. If we do not proclaim the power to declare who we are, society will do it for us. The question, then, is not “Who am I?”, but rather, “Who do I declare myself to be?” This is the greatest question of all, and not even God can decide for us.” The voice turns out to be our very own. We screamed out the greatest epiphany of all, and in this cocoon we shall create ourselves. We shall declare who we are, we shall declare who we are to be.
We shall declare a reason to exist, we shall declare a purpose, we shall declare a mission. We shall declare the colour of our wings, the paths we shall walk, our roles in life, our occupations, our romances, and everything else that can be declared. We have learned that titles and names can be taken away, but what we declare ourselves to be is forever our right. And what we declare ourselves to be can never be taken away by the people, for the people, or from the people. When we burst from our cocoons, allow us to be reborn a new name, a new person, a God of our own fabric of reality.
Metamorphasis
We have wings now, and we fly amongst a world of caterpillars. Yet, there is still hope, there is still love. We have enemies now, and we have few friends. But, that does not matter to us, because Einstein comforts us. He tells us that, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." It is good to be different, it is good to be unique, it is good to have an identity, to have a purpose. We are butterflies now, and the answers to all the questions we ever desired to know the answers to are all within us. Now we pray that you go declare yourself, because if you do not do it, humanity will do it for you. And, you will live a life filled with pleasing others. You will live a life filled with a heart that exists in the hands of people. And, your happiness will be dependent on the acceptance of others. One day, this may cause you to burn others for not following your religion, it may cause you to hurt others like Hitler did, it may cause you to do the cruellest things all because the insecurity within your being is unbearable. Declare yourself, and set yourself free. And never, ever, ask the world “Who am I?”, because nobody has the right to answer that but you. The greatest corruption in the universe comes from not knowing thyself, and then trying to find yourself in the smiles of humanity as a result. Somewhere off in the distance, someone is declaring his identity under a pebble, under a grain of salt, under a sand dune, inside of a wet marsh where light gets trapped but never escapes. Somewhere off in the distance there is a boy who has declared his mission in life, and he will see through to it that it gets fulfilled. A girl no longer scratches the horizon with her fingernail, because she now hopes to break through it inside of a spaceship designed by her own two hands. We are no longer falling Icaruses.
Sources :
Final Note: The writing style of this essay was inspired by Ayn Rand’s book Anthem, not in the sense of how it is written, but in the reference to the word “we” constantly being used. I hope you enjoyed this paper.
We feel that it is a sin to be the same. Now, we leave the rest of the world behind. We are no longer caterpillar. There was a time when a dream would take over our very souls, and we would imagine that we were Icarus falling from the sky. We would scratch the sky so that answers may rain upon us. Inside of this cocoon, we are separate from the rest of the world, and the answer feels nearer than ever. And then, similar to the flash of an explosion, revelations rain inside of our hearts. A voice screams out that the Oracle at Delphi was wrong when it preached us to “know thyself.” A voice screams out that the greatest sin in the universe is to ask the world the question we have asked all along: WHO AM I? It is a greater sin than to ask that question than it is to kill a million people. To ask such a question is a sin against humanity, a sin against the self, a sin against god. The voice screams out, “To ask “Who am I” is to give up all power of one could possibly be. The second we ask this question, give the world the power to decide who we are. We give our parents, we our teachers, our friends all the power to decide who we are. There are certain inalienable rights every single person has. These are rights that not even God himself can trespass on. The greatest of these rights is the right to be exactly who we are to be. The Oracle at Delphi is wrong. Power is not in “knowing thyself”. The truth is that the sacred words shall be, “Declare Thyself.”
To know thyself is to place your identity in the hands of the universe. We are all born a tabula rasa, and society imprints its values and views on us. If we do not proclaim the power to declare who we are, society will do it for us. The question, then, is not “Who am I?”, but rather, “Who do I declare myself to be?” This is the greatest question of all, and not even God can decide for us.” The voice turns out to be our very own. We screamed out the greatest epiphany of all, and in this cocoon we shall create ourselves. We shall declare who we are, we shall declare who we are to be.
We shall declare a reason to exist, we shall declare a purpose, we shall declare a mission. We shall declare the colour of our wings, the paths we shall walk, our roles in life, our occupations, our romances, and everything else that can be declared. We have learned that titles and names can be taken away, but what we declare ourselves to be is forever our right. And what we declare ourselves to be can never be taken away by the people, for the people, or from the people. When we burst from our cocoons, allow us to be reborn a new name, a new person, a God of our own fabric of reality.
Metamorphasis
We have wings now, and we fly amongst a world of caterpillars. Yet, there is still hope, there is still love. We have enemies now, and we have few friends. But, that does not matter to us, because Einstein comforts us. He tells us that, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." It is good to be different, it is good to be unique, it is good to have an identity, to have a purpose. We are butterflies now, and the answers to all the questions we ever desired to know the answers to are all within us. Now we pray that you go declare yourself, because if you do not do it, humanity will do it for you. And, you will live a life filled with pleasing others. You will live a life filled with a heart that exists in the hands of people. And, your happiness will be dependent on the acceptance of others. One day, this may cause you to burn others for not following your religion, it may cause you to hurt others like Hitler did, it may cause you to do the cruellest things all because the insecurity within your being is unbearable. Declare yourself, and set yourself free. And never, ever, ask the world “Who am I?”, because nobody has the right to answer that but you. The greatest corruption in the universe comes from not knowing thyself, and then trying to find yourself in the smiles of humanity as a result. Somewhere off in the distance, someone is declaring his identity under a pebble, under a grain of salt, under a sand dune, inside of a wet marsh where light gets trapped but never escapes. Somewhere off in the distance there is a boy who has declared his mission in life, and he will see through to it that it gets fulfilled. A girl no longer scratches the horizon with her fingernail, because she now hopes to break through it inside of a spaceship designed by her own two hands. We are no longer falling Icaruses.
Sources :
- "Alabama Clergymen to Martin Luther King, Jr., Prompting his Letter from the Birmingham Jail." Abortion - Pro Life - Priests for Life. 17 Mar. 2009
0 komentar:
Post a Comment