November 14, 2010

  • Powers

    We do a lot of "what ifs" at work.  It's good because it's fun, gets you thinking, gets the imagination and creativity going, and increases office morale.  Atleast for my cube neighbor and I, who are the ones taking part.  A recent one I liked was, "If you had to wear Darth Vader's mask for the rest of your life, but you got 50 million dollars, would you do it?"  I always err on the side of "yes" when it comes to the money ones.  And my cube neighbor goes for the side of more practical. 

    Like he said he wouldn't sell his kidney for 10 million, but would give his kidney to a relative.  So I use the simple logic that 10 million dollars is worth more than the life of a relative, so he wasn't making any sense.  Checkmate.

    One's we got around to the question of "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?"  I decided to be unique, and I went with the power that you could think of anyone, and make them die that instant.  Then it's up to me to prove the worth of that power.  See a criminal on TV escaping from the cops? Thought-power activate. Dead.  Crisis averted.  I quite liked it. 

    You could even do stuff like think about "Osama Bin Laden", then boom, he's dead.  See, pretty nice.  Then he used a retort that was something like, "Yeah, but you get mad a lot at work so people would be dying all the time." And I was like, "Yes, that's part of the great struggle of the power."  See, you can't take it back; it sticks right there.

    So I got to thinking more, and how cool it would be if a kid had this power, and his teachers kept dying and he didn't know why, but eventually he figured out that he had it.  And then he has some moral dilemma where he gets mad once and kills someone he loves.  So he's walking the thin line(s) between dementia, self-hate, redemption, all that.  Good story yeah?  I'll get around to it one day.

    Another power I'd like to have that I thought of just now was to put myself into my own past for 5 minute intervals (because there has to be limits).  I've been in situations before where I had no idea how I was acting there or being there or not in awe or shock, but since you're in the moment, you just carry on and don't notice.  This doesn't have to be life altering stuff, either.  It can just be sitting in an ex-girlfriend's house (one you haven't spoken to in years), and watching TV.  That was YOU, there in that moment, oblivious to it in the context of your life.  Like a bubble blown out of time. 

    It'd just be interesting for me to zoom back there knowing all there is to know since.  Nothing to change, but maybe more time to relish.  Or at least take a step back and grasp. 

    Smells will hit me hard occasionally and give me a feeling similar to that, apart from the actual living.  Or a dream. Anything like that.  I know that five years from now I'll feel the seem nostalgia to my life now.  I accept that and all I can tell myself is, "Hey, you've been taking it moment by moment for a long time now.  You did before me, and you will after me."  Problem with the moment is that it's susceptible to moods and emotions.  So you gotta try your best to feed in context sometimes, or if you feel your emotions are helping you (like, damn, I need to get shit done today, good think I'm in a go-get-'em kinda mood), then just harness that and ride.