“Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die.” – Chuck Palahniuk
I live too much in my head and for good reasons too. Anything could happen if only you allow yourself to imagine. Picture a world – your world – filled with everything you could ever want or need. This perfection, this idealism, I’m sure most of you can relate to it – this numbing euphoria, at a healthy measure, is the greatest escape.
First to go would be mind-less people and their lies, along with creepy crawlies, demanding superiors, petty fights, 5 cent coins, tripping over yourself in public, chipped fingernails, a movie with no storyline, the ‘Fail Whale’ on your browser, biting into lime seeds, 8 a.m. lectures, paper cuts, rain on your suede shoes, diluted Coke and bad hair days.
Next, conjure up a series of melodies, a tinge of caramel in the air, kittens by your feet when it rains, finding money on the sidewalk, a boisterous laughter, the first cigarette of the day, stargazing, the telepathy between you and your best friend, having sex with Hugh Jackman, solving a Math problem, getting a seat on the bus home, the steam that rises from your coffee mug, a lover’s touch, and so on. The possibilities are endless! (Somebody stop me!)
The best thing about this is that it could happen anytime and anywhere. Close your eyes and off to your happy place you go! Temporal as it may be, it would be a convenient way out (definitely quicker and more reliable than your local commute), especially in such a bustling city like Singapore.
“Wishful thinking”, the realists would call it. Perhaps. But one should always keep in mind (pun intended) that you ought to stop yourself from getting it confused with the reality or risk Weltschmerz. In Sheldon Cooper’s words, “The depression that arises from comparing the world as it is to… an idealized world”. This is especially important when it involves real people involved in your dream world.
“Me or the thought of me?” As John Mayer sings these words to me, I begin to question – Do I love someone for who they are, or only because I love Love? The attention, the belonging, the butterflies, the classic romance that is found most frequently among fictional characters – It sure is beautiful to live it, isn’t it? I find that the more I imagine it, the more I crave it.
Without my knowing, I bring life to the characters of my romance novel with the personalities of people I meet. All the world’s a stage and everyone has a part to play. If it feels right enough with you, I would think that I have found the star to cast as my soul mate. “You have cats at home? Me too! Salted popcorn for you? I like mine sweet. Yay, we’re so meant for each other, we should totally be together forever!”
If you and your chosen partner decide to get into a relationship, you will start to notice “flaws” in your
so-called soul mate as the relationship develops. You will expect them to do certain things, act in a particular manner, say the right words at specific times. Heck, you will even expect their hair to fall right above their starry eyes like Leonardo DiCaprio circa 1996. If they don’t… “OMG, who are you?! What did you do with my forever and ever?! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!”
You see, things do not work that way. People do not work that way. Fitting reality to your ideals is always a bad move. I don’t mean to burst your bubbles but the myth is true. Your Prince Charming/Megan Fox/_insert appropriate fantasy here_ only lives in books. It resides in the Fiction aisle at the library; a fragment of someone’s imagination and the only tangible state it could ever achieve is in ink, within pages. True Love does not do these things to you. Your vivid imagination, on the other hand, is one misleading son-of-a-gun. How else would you dare to believe “happily-ever-after” to be real when you don’t write the words and the steps that follow does not belong to you?
It is a common misconception and a mistake made repeatedly by so many others. Good news though, this could all be avoided. Your mind is not a projector and the real world is not your screen. Your thoughts should be kept where they belong and that could save a few hearts from breaking.
Damn right, I’m talking about yours too.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I am SO lazy to sign in.
But anyway, I so agree. I blame the proliferation of media. I blame my fertile mind for going places even LSD can’t take me.
And somewhere along the road I think our “projector” (or mind?) will go awry, we need someone to fix it for us…
Haha, by “fix it for us” do you mean a reality check?
Reality checks never work. It’s like an epiphany when you realise how reality is never what you thought it could be. And once an idea (and in this case, this epiphany) has been planted, god knows that it will only continue to grow like a virus until it’s permanently embedded into your system, like a second skin that you cling on to. Nothing can change it.
I don’t think people change. Our choices, however, might.
You’re right. We’re out to burst bubbles.
Do you think people who suffer from Weltschmerz are people who have been “enlightened,” as compared to “simple-minded” people who can accept how the world is and just move on with life (would you consider these people naive)?
I don’t see knowing how to separate reality from fantasy as a kind of “enlightenment”. It’s supposed to be in-built; a person is born with brains and therefore, should know what is logical. Then again, people get muddled between the two too much.
I don’t think those who can accept and move on are simple-minded or naive. Just because they don’t look much deeper in doesn’t make them shallow. They just take things easy, and I honestly wish I was more like that. Let’s say these people are happy with their lives.. or know how to be happy with their lives.. Why would they question happiness?
Great artwork by Desmond, by the way. Very apt. Kudos!
Heh, thanks Adam!