I've been going through a digital folder of things I've written. I just found this gem circa summer 2019 and I'm wondering what I was drinking when I wrote it...
…she sings in rhymes… Saying everything and nothing at the same time… (Third Day)
There are a lot of people in jail and a few pretty popular podcasts about people who confess to crimes for no better reason than someone (or many people) harassed them into it. It was easier to confess than to continue arguing and sounding crazy.
That’s sad.
If you’re told a lie long enough, your brain will start filling in details and making you believe it, too. Interestingly enough, the same mechanism in your brain that can make you certain that a lie is the truth is also the same mechanism you can use to manifest success. Tell yourself over and over again that you’re a successful fill-in-the-blank with a fat checking account and luxury car in your garage. Go ahead. When your brain starts believing it as gospel, you’ll start making decisions that lead you to it. If you don’t believe me just check out the self-help section at Barnes and Noble.
The Power of Suggestion is, perhaps, our one true superpower.
***
Some people think that the fact that we haven’t returned to the moon since 1969 is a big indicator of a conspiracy.
I think the real reason we haven’t returned to the moon is that it’s merely a satellite, and we know what we need to know about it. What’s the sense in going back to an uninhabitable, lonely desert when its magic lies in the fact that it’s out there… and we are here.
And maybe we should have left it alone, because what did it really give us? I mean, yes. We advanced technology significantly by engineering space exploration and I don’t know where I would be (literally) without the Global Positioning System and TANG.
But there was an awful lot of time and effort invested in the quest to touch the moon… it was 12 years from the first Sputnik mission to that famous American footprint. Maybe the lessons learned along the way hold the value, but the death and destruction that litter the road are so much more in vain when you think about the fact that the moon just hasn’t been worth returning to. By anyone. Globally. Because I’m not up on world civics but I think the Russians could totally get to the moon now. So could Elon Musk, right?
But they don’t.
So we shamelessly used the moon as a means to an end, and funneled millions (billions?) of dollars into turning the pipe dreams of little boys into an event that captivated the entirety of humanity and made a bold political statement about who the king of the sandbox was.
Not even a generation later, the same technology derived from space exploration that can help you research every detail about lunar landing can also convince you it never even happened.
With that kind of doubt and irreverence, all that’s really left of man’s need to explore the moon in person is the skeleton of Apollo 11 in a place where no one may ever visit to pay respect for everything that was lost along the way.
***
I learned today that in a novel that sells, you must have a hero, five other archetypes which are vital to the story (but not to this observation), and a villain.
The hero’s journey is always the same in terms of conflict and resolution and certain elements have to be present in order for the story to have life. One of these elements is vital in crafting a story that is relatable to the reader:
The fact that heroes change.
And villains don’t.
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