As I embark on another round of revisions to The Earthside Trilogy, I’d like for us to ponder on a recent realization on the subject of villains. We’ve talked about villains before in this blog: which are the best, what makes them fascinating, and what motivations are the most compelling. But of late, I’ve come to realize that in both fiction and real life, there’s another kind of villain that we battle. It’s far more elusive than the bad guys stirring up trouble, and more damaging than any gun, bomb, or weapon you can conceive. This villain hits fast, hits hard, and is unforgiving. What can hurt us this badly?
What you don’t know.
We think we’re invincible. We think we’re smart. We think that we have it all under control, and that our plans can go no way but our way. There’s just one problem with this innate arrogance that we as humans suffer from. We don’t know it all. We can’t compensate for reality, which can turn on a dime. Our attention is limited and no matter how we try to keep it under our thumb, there will always be people and circumstances that slip through our fingers that build the demons we don’t see coming. The nature of the universe is change, and as such it’s literally impossible to run and hide for long, because truth always prevails and things always come out from under that rug you swept them under, often far bigger and more hideous than the monster we thought we hid.
This is the stuff that really hurts, because it's an invisible villain that's impossible to anticipate or control. Because there’s always somebody smarter. There’s always somebody with more resources and conflicting goals. There’s always that dark side to people and things that you don’t see until it’s drawn out, and you don’t really know how powerful it is until the beast is out of the cage. It’s always the things and people we underestimate or even forget about that blow up the worst. And nobody can see the future. You can make your plans – and God can unmake them. Fate will not be controlled. The balance must be kept. If one things shifts, so too must another. It’s all connected, and there’s no way to know how that string will resonate once you pull it.
Villains create themselves from what they know, and are amplified by what they don’t know. The problem is, the villain isn’t ever the villain in their own eyes – and in trying to defend their virtue, they often create other villains through neglect of the things they don’t know.
In the end, it makes for good fiction and lousy reality. Karma really is a witch, and it’s ironic how much of it we create ourselves. Maybe it’s best to just be an honest, decent human being. It may sound idealistic and boring, but by golly, it sure is a simpler life.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!
What you don’t know.
We think we’re invincible. We think we’re smart. We think that we have it all under control, and that our plans can go no way but our way. There’s just one problem with this innate arrogance that we as humans suffer from. We don’t know it all. We can’t compensate for reality, which can turn on a dime. Our attention is limited and no matter how we try to keep it under our thumb, there will always be people and circumstances that slip through our fingers that build the demons we don’t see coming. The nature of the universe is change, and as such it’s literally impossible to run and hide for long, because truth always prevails and things always come out from under that rug you swept them under, often far bigger and more hideous than the monster we thought we hid.
This is the stuff that really hurts, because it's an invisible villain that's impossible to anticipate or control. Because there’s always somebody smarter. There’s always somebody with more resources and conflicting goals. There’s always that dark side to people and things that you don’t see until it’s drawn out, and you don’t really know how powerful it is until the beast is out of the cage. It’s always the things and people we underestimate or even forget about that blow up the worst. And nobody can see the future. You can make your plans – and God can unmake them. Fate will not be controlled. The balance must be kept. If one things shifts, so too must another. It’s all connected, and there’s no way to know how that string will resonate once you pull it.
Villains create themselves from what they know, and are amplified by what they don’t know. The problem is, the villain isn’t ever the villain in their own eyes – and in trying to defend their virtue, they often create other villains through neglect of the things they don’t know.
In the end, it makes for good fiction and lousy reality. Karma really is a witch, and it’s ironic how much of it we create ourselves. Maybe it’s best to just be an honest, decent human being. It may sound idealistic and boring, but by golly, it sure is a simpler life.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Bye!
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