02 August 2006

Don Quixote

Or at least Don Quixote as portrayed by Cervantes, as himself portrayed in the 1970s movie, Man of La Mancha; but what the hell.

We judge each other most harshly, it seems, when one of us takes a stand; when one sets out to defend all that is pure and good, yet others see this as a pointless, futile or even ridiculous exercise.

Perhaps we carry the schoolyard with us all our lives. Perhaps we will always be intent upon conformity and acceptance, and for that far too quick to point and laugh when someone else, innocently or deliberately, stands apart.

Then again, perhaps when life forces us to watch what we don't want to see; when someone else's bravery would be too completely embarrassing for us to contemplate (let alone emulate), perhaps we scurry for emotional cover by vehemently denying that we feel any sympathy at all. Not really laughers, then, but liars. Willing to sacrifice someone else so that we should not be seen as prey.

Is it better to be with or without dreams?
Who is more foolish, the fool, or the fool that mocks him?

I have no idea, or at least the ideas I get seem to change with the weather. Perhaps heroism and idiocy are flip sides of the same coin, with the label decided by history.

THIS goes out to 266k (complete with bad singing and very British accent, God Bless Peter O'Toole!)

"But maddest of all -- to see life as it is, and not as it should be."

5 comments:

Greg said...

Is it better to be with or without dreams? That depends on whether the pain of knowing that your dreams will remain unfulfilled is too much to handle.
And to stand apart from the crowd and say "This is wrong" is possibly the bravest thing anyone can do. Whether hero or idiot depends on whether you agree with them.

The world is filled with two sorts of people - unhappy fools and happy fools. Take a stand and take your choice.

fineartist said...

Powerful post, made my heart hurt.

It made me feel.

and think.

The good begins when we allow ourselves to dream, to imagine that lives can be improved, and then we set out to improve them.

We begin at home, and branch out, spread the love, sometimes we get overwhelmed at a local level, sometimes we achieve national level of lending aid, improving lives...Without hope/dreams, belief we have no chance for change.

Without dreams we have nothing.

I know I'm skimming over some very important ideas here, but that's what my heart compelled me to write and I'm too fried to think anymore at this wee hour of the morning.

Hope you are well, sending you lots of green good health auras and crazy love from across the ocean, Lori

Man Peter O'Toole kicks major axe!

Angeline Rose Larimer said...

Excellence, here.

I vote better to be with dreams.
I've always tried to keep mine slightly higher than attainable.
I was also raised to go my own way, which is funny, because that drives my parents bonkers now.
This last year taught me a lot.
Mostly, people are winging it.
The bigger, louder the crowd making me uneasy, the more likely they're wrong and covering.

Thanks for the think.
Always good to see you and have my brain prodded.

Sall* said...

Oh Cheryl!

I am but a fool!

If only I could sing
as good as Peter O'Toole.

here's to dreaming the impossible dream

(:

Andrew McAllister said...

Ah, With! Absolutely. To see what I mean, check out an article called Can't Dream Without Him.

"To Love, Honor and Dismay"