Star Words: Episode IV, Part 19
Jul. 25th, 2019 02:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilUndeterred by Han's skepticism, Luke follows Obi-Wan's suggestion and acts on instinct to disarm the training probe. His triumph does nothing to persuade Han, resulting in a characteristic exchange between skeptic and sage ("I call it luck" "In my experience there's no such thing as luck") but Luke is filled with wonder. He confides in his teacher that with his physical senses muted, he had a brief, extrasensory glimpse of the remote. Ben expresses his warm approval.
"You've taken your first step into a larger world."
What a marvelous way to describe the process of learning and maturation. Slowly entering a larger world, step by step. Much of what makes life worthwhile is the ability to continually expand our minds beyond their existing spheres, seeking greater awareness and understanding. As children we tend to believe the world revolves around us. Nothing terribly wrong with that, as long as we don't get stuck in that stage. Eventually our little universe widens to include family, peers, a wider community. It should continue to grow, beyond knowledge of our personal experience. We must acknowledge that things can exist even if we haven't personally seen them. Other people matter even if they don't directly influence our own needs and wants. Things that seemed impossible become reality.
It is the hero's journey that all of us take. The end of childhood; stepping over the threshold into adventure. It is thrilling, exhilarating. It is also a place of peril and fraught decisions; the intense responsibilities that come hand in hand with the gaining of knowledge. Luke's struggle with the remote probe is like a microcosm of his training in the Force -- there will be pain, disappointment and failure; blasters shooting at him from every direction -- before he finally learns what he needs to know. But a hero doesn't shrink back from the larger world, whatever the struggles it brings. The price is worth paying.
Next, a moment of dawning dread in the face of Alderaan's destruction....
"You've taken your first step into a larger world."
What a marvelous way to describe the process of learning and maturation. Slowly entering a larger world, step by step. Much of what makes life worthwhile is the ability to continually expand our minds beyond their existing spheres, seeking greater awareness and understanding. As children we tend to believe the world revolves around us. Nothing terribly wrong with that, as long as we don't get stuck in that stage. Eventually our little universe widens to include family, peers, a wider community. It should continue to grow, beyond knowledge of our personal experience. We must acknowledge that things can exist even if we haven't personally seen them. Other people matter even if they don't directly influence our own needs and wants. Things that seemed impossible become reality.
It is the hero's journey that all of us take. The end of childhood; stepping over the threshold into adventure. It is thrilling, exhilarating. It is also a place of peril and fraught decisions; the intense responsibilities that come hand in hand with the gaining of knowledge. Luke's struggle with the remote probe is like a microcosm of his training in the Force -- there will be pain, disappointment and failure; blasters shooting at him from every direction -- before he finally learns what he needs to know. But a hero doesn't shrink back from the larger world, whatever the struggles it brings. The price is worth paying.
Next, a moment of dawning dread in the face of Alderaan's destruction....
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Date: 2019-07-26 12:33 am (UTC)As well, as aware as I am we can look at more positive things than trying to dismantle certain recent projects again, the last bit of your "hero's journey" paragraph works in a usefully understated way.