Friday, May 27, 2011

Writer's Club: Mortal Enemies

Spider to the Fly bag by samsstuff

This week the question was to describe your mortal enemy & why you hate them. I chose this prompt to highlight an unusual  philosophy of mine: I don't actually hate anyone. How can this be? Doesn't everyone hate at one point or another? Yes, maybe, but...There's always a but, isn't there? Again, maybe. I  will say that there are certain individual actions that I am not fond, political posturing, lies told behind the back, harmful talk that once done, can't be undone. My dislike could be possibly be called hate, but a hate of action, not of an individual.
So, who is my mortal enemy? If I had to name someone, it would be myself, but even then, I wouldn't say I hate myself. I only say this in that I can get in my own way, like we all get in our own way, from time to time. We don't always know how to pick the right battles or when to say the right thing, to make things happen in our lives or when to help out others.  Sometimes we run possibilities over & over again until we've missed the opportunity to act. We become our own nemesis, a stumbling block to the perfect life we might otherwise have and this is why I say that I'm my own worst enemy. The upside of this, though is the opportunity to learn & that makes us our own best friend. If things were perfect the first time, every time, we wouldn't grow, we'd stagnate & life would ultimately be pretty boring, wouldn't it?
Have you ever seen the movie "Unbreakable"? I love it, but then I love comic books, though not usually the super hero variety. In the film Bruce Willis plays the unbreakable one. No matter what happens, he survives. His life is far from perfect. His marriage is falling apart, he's losing his job, despite having the ability to survive any physical disaster. His nemesis, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is the opposite. He can barely walk across the street without breaking bones. He is a successful businessman, he has a mother who loved him, but he becomes obsessed with learning how the Bruce Willis character survives so easily, when he is so fragile. It's kind of a super hero/ super villain juxtaposition, in a way that only  really happens in comic books, but told in a very realistic manner. They become friends & they become enemies. It's a fascinating study. In reality, I think we're all a mixture of these extreme characters, fragile & strong, enemy & friend, kind of all & none of the above.
What do you think? Do you have someone you hate? Do you have a mortal enemy? A frienemy? Someone who has been both friend & enemy, at some point? Do you think we can be superhero/nemesis even to ourselves? All interesting questions...SAM

6 comments:

Lisa Taylor said...

Hmmm I remember that movie.
I think you've hit it spot on: we are our own nemesis. Our own worst enemy. Knowing what we *should* do, want to do, aspire do to - yet for some reason keeping ourselves from succeeding. I think that's part of our journey here - to overcome that part of ourselves, grow, and move on.
Great, thoughtful post!

Claudya Martinez said...

I don't hate either. I am appalled by actions or situations, but hates seems like something that is self-consumptive and I don't do that.

Alexis of NorthOnHarper said...

I think we are our own worst enemy--- because what we hate in other people, is something we usually hate within ourselves....
hmmm

I have to think about this some more!

Debbie @ OtRD said...

In my kickboxing class our instructor always tells us to pretend the bag we are hitting is someone that we really hate. I always have the hardest time with this because I can never think of anyone to imagine the bag is!!

Such an interesting topic...

Reanaclaire said...

Hello, coming by to wish you good day...
Life is too precious to hold grudges.. so i prefer to forget who had hurt me before and I hope i didnt hurt anyone too..

johanna said...

Nicely said and is exactly what I wanted to see if people got with this prompt. I think we all battle with parts we hate and love within ourselves, yet we learn and thrive with the parts we hate. Loved it.