A Fool In A Land Of Strangers
A hero’s journey involves a heavily flawed individual doing something that they quite obviously are not very good at. The point being that when they are at complete rock bottom and the audience is rooting for them, they discover something incredibly profound that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Whether this is in a story or reality, being willing to suck at something new, a fool among strangers.
But there is a point where one must come out of this apprenticeship phase and come into ones own. One cannot be rolling around in the mud forever, nor can one let others drag you in at a certain point. Because at a certain point, you’ll obtain some status, a position that others want and they’ll try to drag you down in order to get it.
Don’t Wrestle With The Pigs
There is a saying that goes, don’t try wrestling a pig in the mud, you will only get dirty and the pig will enjoy it. Which is true. When you are down in the mud with someone lower then you on the social hierarchy, you are playing to their strength. You’ve entered their mudpile where they are strong. The best thing to do when a proverbial pig tries to drag you in for a good wrestling is to refuse to engage. It has often been said to let other people do the dirty work for you because it is the right thing to do to pick up the trash around your neighborhood, but by doing so you’ll be seen as a garbage man, and no one really wants to be that guy.
I’m not denying that the hero must come up the ranks, he must. And that involves a lot of trial and error, rolling around in the dirt. But there must be a turning point, a transformation in the character development where one must come out of the mud, even as those below are slinging it, so that the hero can rise to meet his potential.
Kingston S. Lim
30th June 2022
Cairo, Egypt
Kingston S. Lim 