Camus & Kafka (or: Death & Metamorphosis)

Nov 08, 2006 05:11

after spending another night of lucid dreams hovering above the abyss ( Read more... )

death, burning man, metamorphosis, that thing in the desert, burn culture, birmingham

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luxcanon November 7 2006, 22:09:01 UTC
But at least I have a new motto, now... "What does not kill me, makes me stranger!"

That one is worth the price of admission, Bear-like driver.

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aethyrflux November 7 2006, 22:48:59 UTC
if you ask me, i think that i'm actually more "boar-like," but who am i to quibble with another's perceptions?
for some reason, whenever i think about driving away from BRC(" The world's happiest company town!"),
there's a tape-loop returning to my head:
...you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...

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heatherthegreat November 8 2006, 00:54:48 UTC
That's actually a quote from the original Aeon Flux cartoon. Trevor Goodchild says it at the end of an episode where two people attempt to cross into Aeon's country, one of them makes it and the other gets caught and loses her legs by the very machines she had been building. It's the perfect statement for something tragic and ironic.

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aethyrflux November 8 2006, 01:39:03 UTC
Thanatophobia: A heavily armed border wall separates the nations of Bregna and Monica. Yet many Breens seek to escape the mysterious designs of Trevor Goodchild

Trevor Goodchild: "That which does not kill us, makes us stranger."

--

although I love that series, I swear it has nothing to do with my screen name ;~}
and i would guess that a few other people have made the joke, as well...
but strangely, after a cursory glance, I can find no other citation of it online!

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aethyrflux November 8 2006, 01:59:28 UTC
heatherthegreat November 8 2006, 23:54:43 UTC
yo.

that was awesome.

thanks...

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aethyrflux November 9 2006, 01:49:51 UTC
here are some mnemonics that stick out in my mind when contemplating that episode:

...

exceeding by delicacy

...

death is a welcome metamorphosis

...

self awareness & cost benefit analysis are important tools

...

suffering is caused by attachment to desire
and relieved by serenity of will and diligent devotion

...
and from the Usenet posts:
Is it better for the current self to die, so that a new self may come to be;or for one's immediate idea of self to be preserved at any cost, even though the possibility of a new self may die? To quote the last two lines of Authur O'Shaughnessy's poem "Ode:"

"For each age is a dream that is dying, Or one that is coming to birth."
...
I prefer the New Aeon model of the cosmos as the birth of a child, rather than a sacrifice of the old god.

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heatherthegreat November 8 2006, 23:59:10 UTC
Okay well, the second link was awesome but the first, with the editorial idiotic comments, I can do without. :)

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aethyrflux November 9 2006, 01:33:55 UTC
yeah, in that first one, the commentary is annoying, but the pictures are a good visual frame of reference that aids my memory.

but, in the stuff from Usenet, there're some profound expositions of the themes in that episode.

that's a sexy story, with all of it's twisted romantic triangles, absurdist bdsm innuendo, and sybian-like instruments of love!

it's one thing to have passion, but convictions cause convicts, and Trevor is an arrogant jerk sometimes... with lines like "Just get out!" followed by, "I mean, I think I’ll leave now."

please accept my apologies for any similarly inconsiderate behaviour upon my behalf, this weekend... it seems that contemplation of Donnie Darko in context with Wilson's recent passing put me into a pretty depressive state... but i have come to a comforting acceptance that, like all living creatures, Wilson died alone ...and in exactly the way he had always dreamed that he would.

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heatherthegreat November 9 2006, 19:53:51 UTC
thank you for saying that... i really needed to hear it.

Although I never knew Wilson, I was profoundly impacted by his death. The photos, the people, the emotions, the place where he died - it all created a powerful archetype that I incorporated into my behavior for the weeks following... ie the overwhelming fear of death I felt, which incidently is what thanotophobia means. I also felt extremely isolated when I would feel that fear because I had no one to share it with, I felt that no one could understand. Perhaps in that sense, we understand each other more than we think.

Isolation is a big ping for me... Back a few years ago when I was super depressed, I would sob for hours because I felt so alone.

We may die alone but we don't have to live alone.

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23 current aethyrflux November 9 2006, 21:53:04 UTC
now that you mention it, it does seem like we have been here before
but things look... different, now... don't they?

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Re: 23 current heatherthegreat November 10 2006, 00:07:33 UTC
When voting on Tuesday, I was the 23rd voter of the very last hour.

Things are different. Sheena said that we don't go in circles, we go in spirals because each time we complete a cycle, we know more about it therefore we cannot end up in the exact same spot. Unless you're amnesic...

So I'm not sad this time around. I'm angry. I still feel fragile but only when I'm in an emotionally charged argument. Like I'm fragile when I'm very angry. Could the anger be to protect that soft spot? The sadness back then was...

This seems realted somehow: http://www.counselingforloss.com/article8.htm

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Re: 23 current aethyrflux November 10 2006, 00:33:42 UTC
i can still see the traditional five stages that are quite apparent in our lives when we experience catastrophic loss ...& often even if it is some lesser grieving... but i really like that TEAR acronym... it's really quite progressive:

T = To accept the reality of the loss
E = Experience the pain of the loss
A = Adjust to the new environment without the lost object
R = Reinvest in the new reality

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luxcanon November 8 2006, 01:43:25 UTC
Awesome, thanks for the context!

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aethyrflux November 8 2006, 03:50:05 UTC

... )

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