Hiya munchkins and happy Friday.
Welcome to my brain. This article will be a mess … or not. It will be clear … or not. It has a message or … not. IT DEFINITELY HAS A PURPOSE. I might say things I mean … or not. I re-read my work, erased things, discussed out loud with myself and with people… Somehow, I have not found the exact way to say what I want to say. Will a part 2 emerge? Maybe. Did I think about this too much? You know what, maybe I did. Here’s the thing. Sometimes, silence speaks more than words, ellipses convey thousands of words to express something and huge paragraphs can be resumed into a five-word sentence. Be my guest… and welcome in “the Pursuit of Happiness”.
I have been meaning to write about something this very month but I never really knew what. I took my notebook, jotted down some thoughts, highlighted what I liked best but nothing really seemed to make me go: “Ah, yes. A true masterpiece!” – which is never the case if I am to be honest with you guys. I questioned my thoughts and the purpose of them, and asked myself: “Might I be going into a rut or hiatus moment?” and the answer I immediately gave myself was: “No, it cannot be. You have too many ideas Seb. Share them all.” Sharing is caring, true… but “too much is not enough” (famous French proverb translated from Trop, c’est comme pas assez).
During my thinking process, I came to realize something that was not a surprise to myself – or anyone to be honest. I love Captain America, like L-O-V-E Captain America. I admit, I prefer his best buddy, James Buchanan Barnes also known as Bucky, but Captain America is a favourite. Of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s trilogy (MCU) released in the last decade or so, Captain America has always stroke a chord to me. Is it because in a finite part of me, somewhere in the depths of my subconscious-self, I am a patriotic American? Perhaps … who knows? Murica, amirite? Is it because the actor who portrays the heroic Brooklyn man is a hunk himself? Probably, yes. However, here is the real answer. Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, is not only a true icon for the citizens of the United States of America as he proudly wears the colours of the flag on his costume, but he is also a human being who stands up for what he believes in, WHETHER HE IS RIGHT OR WRONG.
I find it remarkable, don’t you? To look at someone who PROUDLY and CONFIDENTLY stands in front of you with all they are and all they have to offer NO MATTER WHAT THE COST IS.
Steve Rogers was born on July 4th, 1918 (Patriotic much? I KNOOOOW! – Also Monica Geller amirite?). He grew up in Brooklyn as a bullied child, lost his parents and tried to figure it out on his own. Because of his tenacity and his will to help in WWII, he was chosen to withhold the powers of the idealistic super-soldier the government had in mind at the time. He was given a serum that enhanced all his good qualities and traits in a BETTER way.
To some of you, Captain America’s story is just fantasy and comics and, well, not exactly valid. And it’s okay. Everyone has different fandoms and communities in which they belong. To me, Captain America is PROOF that you don’t have to be perfect at all to represent people. He is the living idea and symbol that if and when you stay true to yourself, people value you more as leader-worthy rather than someone who makes believe. What fascinates me about his person is that he was born in the late 1910s, “died in 1945” and awoke in 2011 (according to the MCU’s timeline) and never stepped out of the path that was set for him. Do you understand how crazy that is? I know I am basing myself on a fictional character, but the thing about literature is that no matter how real of fantastic it gets, there is foremost a lesson or a value hidden in the story.
Steve Rogers to me represents the acceptance of one’s true identity and beliefs. For those who followed the movies, remember that in Captain America: Civil War, he did not sign the accord because he trusted his guts far more than the governments. He believed in himself and his capabilities enough to say no to superiority, to defy the authorities, because he believed in something bigger, greater, BOLDER, he believed in friendship, self-reliance, and always, ALWAYS thought that if the Avengers and others had to fight something, it was TOGETHER, as a TEAM.
I am not, in ANY WAY going to bash the USA. But hear me out. They started building their country on the belief that “all men are created equal” and that men are allowed “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. These are great values, great ways to set an example for a starting country. However, each and every one of them tried to overrule their neighbour because they had a goal, a belief that they deserved to be happy, and expand their happiness as much as it needed. Do you see and issue here? None of them stopped to think if their search for happiness was penalizing someone else’s. So, in the end, it looked like a sort of “everyone for themselves and well, if you don’t make it, it’s okay buddy, you tried.” That is the very definition of hypocrisy and corruption. And it started off with GOOD INTENTIONS.
What now, right? Did the greatest country in the world failed to uplift that ideology? Let’s answer with no, but… So, is it possible to obtain all those things, liberty, happiness, wealth, etc. without turning into a selfish, avid seeker of goods over the detriment of someone else? And if I do seek those things, will I turn into someone who gets blinded by the desire to be happy, fueled by good intentions but resulting in a corruptive success?
So…I know that I am not perfect. I am far from it. But I want to get there. I want to perfect the person I am into someone I judge is qualified to be a role model within my society. I want to push people forward. So, how do I do it, how do I make the distinction between this is good, this is bad and this is going too far, I need to stop? How do I know that my actions are not perpetuating a flux of unreserved situations in which I drown people? How do I know where to draw the line?
I know, I am asking a serious and complicated question. Is there an answer to that question? Maybe, but I don’t have it, and if you do, whoever you are, you are gonna have to come up with a solid explanation on how to do it because so far, all I know is we/ I/ you do not master life; and if you thought you did, I’m very sorry but AH. AH!!
Another question that comes to me whilst I think of the situation is: Do I seek richness in order to be happy? Or do I seek happiness in order to obtain richness? What is the winning combo? Come to think about it, a great friend of mine said: “If you have money, you are going to think that you are rich, you are going to know that you are rich, But with that richness, if you do not give it to someone, or share it or give it in return to people around you, as a sort of blessing, how will you know that you’re intellectually rich, morally rich? That materialistic richness might be the cause of your blindness to a deeper wealth… because in the end, you might lose that paper-like wealth, and what will be left in you? Pride to rise up again? Help from friends because you were there for them? Or depression because you failed? Depression because you are now a laughing stock? What is the cost of the richness?” and to that, I replied: “I-… Wow, that is solid!”
I think of Steve Rogers in all of this. I think of how the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s were completely different from the 2010s, of how in the seventy years he missed, the United States evolved, became bigger, brighter, global, international, respected (in a way)… And I think of how in all the madness of one’s seeking glory, HE never derived from believing in himself, and I believe that the enhancing serum in him did not affect that at all. The serum might have strengthened the core of the human being but Rogers, himself, was already pure of soul – and pure here does not mean perfect – it means “someone who has accepted his being in all flaws, qualities, strengths and weaknesses and perfects its way in the world with those attributes.” I think of how when he dropped his Captain America Shield in Civil War, it showed me that the Shield does not make him a great respected Captain… but he who resides inside his charnel body, that soul, THAT is the Captain America.
And so I am asking you munchkins, WHAT is the thing that FUELS your everyday actions, that motivates your body to get up in the morning, that allows you to cry and fail only to get back up and try harder, that generates an infinite set of possibilities for you to explore every day? What is at the core of your being? It can also be a who. Who is motivating you to continue and strive for more, to thirst for success and happiness and wealth and dreams and goals and so on?
I do not think that I can continue this article or train of thought in any other way so, I will leave it like that… I want you to fill in the blanks, to question, assess, answer, seek and I want you to NEVER EVER STOP DREAMING, to tell that little person inside of you: “Be BOLD and DARE TO TRY, DARE TO DEFY GRAVITY.”
With all my love dearest munchkins!!! Have fun, stay fresh, love life and do not forget to subscribe, share, leave a like and comment under this article. Do the same for other articles as well.
Seb
