Kevin's Watch

With my triumphant return to the Close (having driven off the Saxons and Pics from Avalon's shores) I figured I would bring another topic! I've been thinking a bit about pain (and it'll come as no surprise, having read Simmon's Hyperion), and would like some thoughts out there as I weave this tapestry of thought. Some initial inquires: Is pain necesary? Is it of intrinsic or extrinsic value? Is it or ought it to be to the benefit/detriment of the individual or the group?

As tradition dictates, I shall share my thoughts on these matters later!

It's certainly necessary. If we didn't feel pain when something was damaging our bodies, we would not stop whatever was happening. A simple thing like accidentally putting your hand in the flame on the stove could literally become fatal.

Is this not a fundamental question of the first chrons, and one reason why TC develops Hansen's Disease/Leprosy?

Besides physical pain, there is mental and emotional pain as well. How can we experience joy without ever realizing some form of despair to compare it to?

Yes, I believe pain defines us as much as love. Actually our response to pain is what defines us. Like everyone, I have experienced my share of emotional pain in my brief 55 years. And as masochistic as this sounds, I would not change any of it. My reactions to the personal challenges in my life made me who I am. I believe the lessons I learned from these experiences made me a decent human being, made me aware of human potential, human frailty and human spirit.

I have also seen how personal pain, unexamined and uprocessed, can destroy a person. I see that every day in the work I do. Emotional pain, turned inward, can turn to depression and rage. Emotional pain, turned outward can lead to violence, drugs, etc.

We all have emotional pain. What we do with it defines us.

Suffering builds character. (As I think I mentioned elsewhere recently... )

--A