It's really hard for me sometimes to write a post (especially about something I would consider meaningful and deep) and not have a fantastic, neat, tied up ending. Even though I often can't even deliver the kinds of endings I'd like to put on my posts, I try. And that's nice sometimes. It's nice for stories or devotionals or feel-good motivational thoughts. But in real life, neat and tied up endings happen less than non-neat, loose endings do. It's a sign of a good, entertaining story to have everything addressed at the end. That's nice, but it isn't a sign of something genuine because like I just said, in real life, not everything is addressed or comes to a conclusion.
As a matter of fact, sometimes I've gone through old journals and wanted to cringe when, at the end of a good entry, I just had to throw in a nice resolve or "it's all going to be okay" thought. Of course now I see that it was all okay, and I'm glad I could have peace about whatever situations seemed to almost get the better of me back then, but I also remember how I felt in some of those situations. I really was freaking out sometimes, even at or after the cheery, hopeful end of a journal entry. Resolve is wonderful when we can get it but truthfully, it's not usually the case.
It gets old to hear fairy tales that all end the same, doesn't it? To me there's something a teeny bit refreshing about the dark and kind of screwed up play Into the Woods in which characters from common fairy tales go on to bear the consequences of some of their whimsical, naive and frankly foolish actions. Actually, when I saw that play, I hated it. I thought it was dumb and disturbing. It was a play that was messy and loose-endey and sad-but it was realistic and I give the writers props for that.
A word I learned a few months ago and have really appreciated since is "mumblecore". It refers to "in filmmaking, a genre of very low-budget productions focused on personal relationships and daily life" (dictionary.com)
As a matter of fact, sometimes I've gone through old journals and wanted to cringe when, at the end of a good entry, I just had to throw in a nice resolve or "it's all going to be okay" thought. Of course now I see that it was all okay, and I'm glad I could have peace about whatever situations seemed to almost get the better of me back then, but I also remember how I felt in some of those situations. I really was freaking out sometimes, even at or after the cheery, hopeful end of a journal entry. Resolve is wonderful when we can get it but truthfully, it's not usually the case.
It gets old to hear fairy tales that all end the same, doesn't it? To me there's something a teeny bit refreshing about the dark and kind of screwed up play Into the Woods in which characters from common fairy tales go on to bear the consequences of some of their whimsical, naive and frankly foolish actions. Actually, when I saw that play, I hated it. I thought it was dumb and disturbing. It was a play that was messy and loose-endey and sad-but it was realistic and I give the writers props for that.
A word I learned a few months ago and have really appreciated since is "mumblecore". It refers to "in filmmaking, a genre of very low-budget productions focused on personal relationships and daily life" (dictionary.com)
"The first part of the compound, mumble, means to speak in a low indistinct manner, almost to an unintelligible extent...The suffix -core, is extracted from the phrase hard core, which emerged in the 1930s meaning “an irreducible nucleus or residuum; also a stubborn or unyielding minority.” The rebellious thread shared among films and TV shows that fall into the mumblecore category seems to be against the glossy, inflated, and formulaic form of storytelling that has dominated big-budget filmmaking. Contrasted against this narrative style, the meandering mumble of mumblecore gains new significance, signaling a form of storytelling that elevates those seemingly mundane, unintelligible moments that make up life." (dictionary.com)If you can understand and appreciate the concept behind the mumblecore genre, you'll probably understand my point. And it is this: sometimes, resolve and neat endings are okay, but life is not always like that and there is beauty to be found in that fact. Life has a beauty about it in that you can't control it. It also has a beauty in its ununiformity. In the fact that life is different for everyone and that often the endings aren't neatly tied together, there is a quality about life to be celebrated instead of trying to make things end in neat and tidy ways. If we can find beauty in "those seemingly mundane, unintelligible moments that make up life" then there's very little room for being bored and unsatistfied with what we have. Plus, when that is the view point we will probably be less disappointed when things don't turn out neatly and pleasantly surprised when they do.