13 - [Video/Action]

[winds_voice]

[Eley seems to be sitting near the site of his recently planted tree by the river today. With the journal held in front of him and perched on his lap, you can catch glimpses of the grassy bank behind him and perhaps a flash of colour from the hill in the distance. The sound of flowing water can also be heard from the nearby river.

The Spirit himself seems rather thoughtful again.]

As a deity in my world I am not unfamiliar with the idea that humans are always desiring one thing or another. People are always wishing, always hoping, and they often turn to me for a way to achieve that which they most want. They vary greatly... from a general desire for peace and health to something more specific, such as finding a partner or acquiring an item they have been wanting for some time. I have also experienced terrible greed firsthand... a greed that has severed good ties between nations and even threatened to destroy one in the process.

In the past I would not share these desires, but since I have steadily grown to feel more human since my stay here I am beginning to wonder what it is that I truly want... and what I might do to gain it.

Is there really any point to holding onto futile dreams? Longing for something that you are certain you cannot have? When does it become necessary to hold onto such a hope and when does it become a problem?

And I must ask... what is it that you desire most? More importantly, what would you do to attain it?

Comments

voice

[toujoursfluer]

I would rather hope futilely than live without it.

[a beat]

As for myself, I desire something that has little relevance outside of my own world--and what I would do? I would die in the pursuit of it, if I had to.

voice

[winds_voice]

It is really that important? What exactly is it, if you do not mind me asking? And... what good is hope if you know that what you hope for will never come to be?

voice

[toujoursfluer]

I want to find the Rio Poneglyph and unlock the secret history of my world.

[a shrug, not that you can see it]

Why not hope? What's the alternative?

voice

[winds_voice]

The history of a world is certainly a very important thing. Would you hope to use these secrets in the present or do you simply wish to obtain it for the sake of curiosity?

...I suppose the alternative would be to forget about it and focus on what you already have. However, that does not always seem as easy as it should be.

[mountain_sage]

[Saleh looks thoughtful as well.]

Many human desires are petty and selfish...while others are beyond our reach. I believe that neither of those are truly worth having in the end.

In Caer Pelyn, we practice Valega, where we make our wishes that expand far beyond individual desire.

[winds_voice]

...I agree that many seem unimportant, especially when compared with larger, grander things. Yet... are all of them bad? I wonder sometimes where the line should be drawn.

Ah yes, you mentioned Valega before as some kind of meditation. How exactly does it make use of these wishes then? What do you mean by those words?

[mountain_sage]

Not all wishes are bad. It can't hurt to reward oneself every now and again. As for where to draw the line, I suppose that can vary from one person to another.

With Valega, we free ourselves from personal greed. And with this freedom, we need nothing else.

written - private

[imatreenow]

[Longing for something that you are certain you cannot have... The words strike underneath his skin, stirring up a cloud of unsettled wants, needs, half-broken hopes. ...when does it become a problem? Mithos sits in silence for a few moments after the journal feed goes silence. It is with hesitance that he picks up his pen and presses it to the paper - but not before covering the small camera at the top of the journal, so rather than his own image all that will be seen on the other end is darkness.]

Is there any greater torture than a hope that might never be realized?

Without hope we would never feel the pain of disappointment. But without hope, life becomes meaningless - we might as well trade it for death. [This is the question he has been tangled in for boundless months, as he struggles to convince himself that his sister will return and - more recently - that there is a point to what he's doing.]

written - private

[winds_voice]

[Hmm... it concerns him somewhat to see someone write like this with no indication of who they are. Eley decides to write back to them though. This is someone who has obviously had many hopes dashed in their lifetime.]

Then you are saying that some degree of suffering is required to feel... alive. Perhaps pain is not always a bad thing in that case. It is something to weather and defeat so that we may yet hope again and feel some degree of happiness.

I see... I have not thought of pain in that way before. Even so, it seems that we must learn when to let go of something in order to move on and live again. Nobody should feel tortured.

written - private

[imatreenow]

No, I am saying that life would be better if all hopes were answered, and pain could be avoided indefinitely. But that is not reality. [So why struggle through all this pain when there may never be a way through it? Like trying to find the shore when all the land has sunk into the sea, but being unable to stop sailing.]

How do you learn to let go of something when it won't let you go?

[Voice]

[spohkh]

[Spock was pleased that his journal was set up so that he did not have to use his hands... however the draw back was that it always remained open.

Ka'adith.

The Vulcan was curious what Eley meant...]

Mister Eleytheria... greetings. I must admit to having great curiosity regarding your questions. As a Vulcan, it is illogical to want what one cannot have. On the other hand, Vulcans continually strive for greatness in innovation and knowledge. In that sense, there is nothing that is unobtainable.

[Voice]

[winds_voice]

And yet there are no guarantees in life. You may believe your goals to be unobtainable... but how long would you pursue them should they turn out to be impossible to reach?

Of course... you would not be able to see the impossibility of the situation in the present. It seems as though it would be a... difficult decision to make because of this.

[A pause. He really should try not to overthink these things too much.]

I am sorry. I do not mean to bring doubt to your way of thinking.

Re: [Voice]

[spohkh]

There are many cultural differences we are dealing with here. For Vulcans, the search for knowledge is not a singular goal... rather the goal of every Vulcan now and in the future. It is for the betterment of the universe... an ongoing goal as it were.

I find it interesting though that a singular or many goals, whether or not they are obtainable, are a constant presence through many people's lives. Perhaps it is merely the search for hope?

[Spock wasn't quite sure... humans were odd.]

voice

[risingwinds]

I don't see the harm of dreaming. Dreams, wishes, stuff like that gives us something to strive for! I mean, I guess some people might argue that blind optimism keeps you from seeing the dangers that surround you, but I like to think of hope as something that lights up a dark situation.

[It's a bit sappy, sure, but Ven's basically sap incarnate.]

As for what I want... well, I just wanna spend time with my friends and keep 'em happy. I wanna stand next to them and protect them if they ever need a hand... stuff like that.

voice

[winds_voice]

I suppose you are right... to have goals to strive towards gives a person more meaning to survive and live on, no matter how dark the situation. At the same time, I can see it becoming... frustrating when these efforts seem futile. There is meaning in both keeping and moving on from dreams, but how can one know when to keep going and when to leave a dream behind?

[He pauses before addressing those more personal desires.]

I would also wish for the same thing. Still, there must have been instances when this was not possible. Did it not... hurt you?

voice

[risingwinds]

'Course it's frustrating, but sometimes that's just how life is. Challenges might be a little rough, but if you can push past 'em, it feels so much better when you finally achieve your dreams. Way better than having everything handed to you, that's for sure.

[As for the second bit, Ven hesitates a little, and his tone softens.]

I've had a few moments like that, though. There've been times where my friends got into trouble, and I couldn't be there to help them or times where they just wouldn't let me help because they thought it'd be too dangerous. Stuff like that hurt a whole lot.

[Written, filtered]

[windandrain]

[It's been some time since the Daughter of Wind and Rain spoke to this particular wind spirit. But that question, in light of the great gift she was given last week?]

If there is something you dream for, then of course you should hold onto it and take it. As we've discussed in the past, Eleytheria, our kinds are different. As different as we are from humans, I believe. And I think this is a big reason why I feel that way.

I and all my kin want and desire. We are fundamental parts of creation, but we're alive and we hope and dream. Often in ways that mortal minds do not understand, or in ways that are impossible to communicate to any but ourselves, but we do.

For myself, love. The love of my partner. And there is nothing I would not do to keep that love. I would tear apart mountains and drain seas to get it back if it was stolen from me.

[Written, filtered]

[winds_voice]

[There was that word again. Love. He felt he was coming closer to understanding what it was, but not the truth about it... what it really felt to have that and how it might affect someone so much.]

Love also seems to be something that is commonly sought after among humans. It is something I have not come to grips with yet... but I would not be above experiencing it should it happen.

Since I have begun to feel more human emotions, I too have begun to develop hopes and dreams for the future. I do not foresee them happening very soon, however. Perhaps it is wrong of me, a Spirit, to hold onto such things.

[Written, filtered]

[windandrain]

It's not something you really can come to grips with. Sometimes it hits you like a sudden gale, sometimes not at all. Sometimes it's wonderful, and sometimes toxic. It's the most volatile thing someone can try to hold, and the most soothing. And as we've talked about before, it's impossible to really put it to words.

[She laughs, and hums a few bars of 'What is Love']

It's not wrong. Don't be silly. Emotions are hardly something detrimental to my people, why should they be to yours?

[ voice ]

[universal_charm]

Man, it's like philosophical central lately...

Well, in answer your first part, don't you keep hoping to go home? There's a reason you keep hoping - because it keeps you going, makes you get up in the morning and make it through another day.

_{[ He was sure he had heard that somewhere else before, but it fit here, so there it was. ]}

[ voice ]

[winds_voice]

[He seems to hesitate at that...]

It is true that there are some things I wish to return home for. In fact, if I were not told that my world would be safe during my stay here then there would be even greater urgency for me to return to Aether. Still, I have been... enjoying my stay in Luceti thus far. I would not mind staying for a while longer. I have friends here I would not want to leave behind and have learned many things about humans.

A will to live each day is certainly important though. My purpose is what drives me... perhaps for humans it is hope.

Re: [ voice ]

[universal_charm]

It's different for everyone. Some people have a mission, some think they have a purpose, other's it's hope or faith. Others, well, they're just happy with their lives, so why stop?

[private]

[seleniahymn]

[Tear doesn't answer right away, and it wasn't for lack of wanting to. She had wondered many of those questions at one point or another, often to varying degrees, and she would never find a true answer for them. It could be frustrating, but now she felt as though she were beginning to understand.

And that it wasn't necessary to completely understand the why.] I believe there is a point. It may be futile, but it's something to strive forward to anyway. Perhaps along the way, those desires can evolve into something else.

[private]

[winds_voice]

Something else?

[What did she mean by that? That the desires might change into new ones? He supposed it was possible, perhaps even common owing to how many different experiences a human would encounter throughout their lifetime.]

You speak as one filled with hope yourself. That you would continue to pursue something despite knowing that you may never reach it... you must be holding onto something very tightly.

[private]

[seleniahymn]

Yes, they can become new desires or... a force, to help you continue forward even though you know they are futile. Just as everything grows and changes, so do those wishes. [Though she did wonder if she was that obvious about herself. Then again, Eley had quickly risen to the position of a close friend, and someone she could trust. Was it really out of the question that he would notice that, when she had made this private so she could speak with him more openly?]

I suppose in a way, I am. Depending on how one sees it, you could almost say that I'm not doing myself any favors. But I don't intend to allow myself to be held back any more, though I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear.