“I am a leaf on the wind; watch how I soar” - Hoban 'Wash' Washburn, Serenity, 2005
I am whirling in the wind and want out, want control... I can see positive outcomes on the horizon, but it’s hard to stay positive in the meantime and focus on what to do next. I keep thinking of that quote because it has some optimistic confidence to it. Couple of problems with that sentiment, but it’s stuck in my head at the moment.
*Spoiler alert; don’t read the next part if it’s going to ruin the movie Serenity for you*
First of all, that character says that line right after managing to pilot a ship that is falling apart through a shitstorm of competing enemies into a hostile environment where none of his compatriots have much time to prepare for a fight, let alone much hope of surviving it. The next moment, he gets harpooned by a crude (but gigantic and effective) ballista and dies. Absolutely lovely touch on the part of the storytellers; Joss Whedon probably lost a bit of sleep over that one but it really is a perfect symbol of his own trials and tribulations with regards to Firefly the TV show. Do your job no matter what. Put everything you’ve got into just making it to a place to land, no matter what’s coming next. You save as much as you can, but pay the price. You end up where the wind takes you.
So, secondly, it’s a hard philosophy to get behind if you think about it a bit. A leaf on the wind is NOT in control. You could argue that none of us are, and that would be the point of the quote. I prefer to adhere to the sentiment that I think I learned from the TV series Kung Fu when I was a kid: “ I am a reed in the wind”, because it implies that I am flexible but will stay put and spring back up when the tempest is over.
I am whirling in the wind and want out, want control... I can see positive outcomes on the horizon, but it’s hard to stay positive in the meantime and focus on what to do next. I keep thinking of that quote because it has some optimistic confidence to it. Couple of problems with that sentiment, but it’s stuck in my head at the moment.
*Spoiler alert; don’t read the next part if it’s going to ruin the movie Serenity for you*
First of all, that character says that line right after managing to pilot a ship that is falling apart through a shitstorm of competing enemies into a hostile environment where none of his compatriots have much time to prepare for a fight, let alone much hope of surviving it. The next moment, he gets harpooned by a crude (but gigantic and effective) ballista and dies. Absolutely lovely touch on the part of the storytellers; Joss Whedon probably lost a bit of sleep over that one but it really is a perfect symbol of his own trials and tribulations with regards to Firefly the TV show. Do your job no matter what. Put everything you’ve got into just making it to a place to land, no matter what’s coming next. You save as much as you can, but pay the price. You end up where the wind takes you.
So, secondly, it’s a hard philosophy to get behind if you think about it a bit. A leaf on the wind is NOT in control. You could argue that none of us are, and that would be the point of the quote. I prefer to adhere to the sentiment that I think I learned from the TV series Kung Fu when I was a kid: “ I am a reed in the wind”, because it implies that I am flexible but will stay put and spring back up when the tempest is over.
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