05 January 2006

Reflections on passion

No, this isn't a post about what people do when they like each other and/or have had one tee many martoonies, it's about the more general passion, the desire to accomplish things, the spark in someone's eyes that tells you: "This is my world, and I intend to do great things!" It's the motivation that is pushed forward by needs.

What needs, you might ask? Well, the need to prove oneself is always a top choice. I know I need that a lot. It comes from being insecure, or perhaps having been insecure earlier in my life (for those who know me, this is a revelation). Sometimes, it comes from love and hatred; there are things in this world I must change...I hate the fact that they happen (not just pet peeves, we're talking world-scale tragedy), and thus I'm determined to do my bit to change them.

But what good is one man's quest against the inifinity of human nature? How can individuals cure cancer and end world hunger? Eliminate poverty and bring about world peace? In a word, I doubt they can.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not a defeatist. I firmly believe that one person can change the world, and there have been amazing examples over the course of history that illustrate this fact. But let's face it, you have to be pretty damn special/determined to have your way in order to change the world.

I'm on a quest to change the world. I don't think I'm particularly special, except in one way: I'm as obstinate as a mule on obstinate steroids. With that going for me, I just refuse outright the naysayers and those who tell me I can't possibly change the world. I just smile at them politely, then turn around and work my fingers to the bone in an effort to prove them wrong. And there we have another reason: The desire to spite people. A relic of the teenage/adolescent years that makes us give authority figures the finger when they say things we don't want to hear. Whether or not they're right is immaterial, since from our point of view (sorry if I'm generalising, folks), which is the only one that matters to us (more on individual values and perspectives soon!), they're wrong.

There's a Chinese proverb I heard once, and it's stuck with me over the years: "By gathering dust, you can build a mountain." Physically very difficult to do, but possible. And that's the clinch: If you try enough, great things will happen. If enough people want to change the world, the world has no choice BUT to change.

"Impossible is a matter of perspective."

2 comments:

Tololy said...

Lovely post, welcome to the self-publishing revolution!

I must admit I admire Deus Ex Machina in works of art, it is dependant, sometimes viewed as downright defeatist -as you put it, but it is brilliant nonetheless.

Fedaykin said...

I'm not sure about defeatism...I like to think of it as a healthy bit of cynicism in a (human) culture that is all too ready to believe anything. But the whole idea behind calling this post Deus Ex Machina relates to this post's topic of changing the world. Anything can happen (that just totally negates my point about cynicism, I know...)