You have come to the last window, my lovely Mortals.

It is no secret that people have a natural fear of the unknown. Whether you admit it or not, there is something extremely scary about not knowing what lies ahead.

Popular fiction will paint for you a future made up of bleaker colors than exist in your Today. Dystopia, war, famine, death, and/or destruction make up the world on the horizon, and it feels horrible. Sure, a Great Robot War or an Undead Apocalypse sounds sort of interesting (and perhaps even intriguing), but it does nothing but show that our world is in a downward spiral.

Even non-fiction seems to make us feel like this world is destined for dark things, as corrupt politicians fight it out for absolute power, religions keep everyone separated, and fear generally reigns supreme. Such is the world we live in today, why should it be any different in the future?

I watched a movie recently that had much of this in its general plotline, but the movie’s overall theme wasn’t bleakness. In fact, the point of the movie was optimism and its power to create a brighter future. It made me think… What if the future is bright?

What if the future was upbeat and wonderful, like this film suggested was a possibility? Are any of us capable of accepting such a future?

 

“They didn’t fear their demise, they re-packaged it. It could be enjoyed as videogames, as TV shows, books, movies; the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You’ve got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms. All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and you won’t take the hint! In every moment there’s the possibility of a better future, but you people won’t believe it. And because you won’t believe it you won’t do what is necessary to make it a reality. So, you dwell on this terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason, because that future does not ask anything of you today. So yes, we saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink.” “Tomorrowland”, Walt Disney Pictures, 2015

 

Looking through this window is daunting, and likely the most important window of all. Will one resign to darkness and despair because it is easier, or dare to hope and keep that light in their eyes just long enough to see that there can be a bright and beautiful future?

 

“There are two wolves and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. Which wolf wins?”                                                            “Tomorrowland”, Walt Disney Pictures, 2015

 

The answer to that is whichever one you feed.                                                                          (Yes, I’ve just quoted one movie twice. You should check it out if you haven’t already, it is definitely worth a watch.)

Make sure you’re feeding the right wolf, dearest Mortals.

 

This is the denizen under the bridge, signing off.

This next window, my lovely Mortals, might be a tough pill to swallow.

After looking through a number of the social media profiles of the Class of 2005, it began to hit me hard as to where I stand today. So many of them have fully functioning lives, with families, and educations, and even careers. I can’t help but wonder what went wrong in my life as I gaze through the Bleak Window of Today.

As I look out this window, I see a vast sea filled with so many krakens. They are beckoning me to come join them. And out beyond that, there it is, the master of the krakens (the final eldritch horror and the very core of my depression). And it looks like me. It is me if I give myself fully to the monster within.

Things always seem so bleak in the world today. Just turn on the news and you’ll see many stories of violence and horror, of corrupt politicians vying for power, and of absolute hopelessness. It truly is a bleak view indeed.

On a more personal scale, I see my Today as troubled. I can’t seem to keep social relationships alive (romantic or platonic), I am employed at a dead-end job and I don’t have the academic backing to get anything above a minimum wage job (and there’s society making it perfectly clear that us minimum wagers aren’t good enough for the world), and I am an emotional mess (with depression and strong hints of other “undiagnosed” stuff). My personal world, like the world in general, is a bleak canvas.

One can go utterly insane just focusing on the now.

That is where window three comes into play…

 

Welcome to the first window, my lovely Mortals.

While doing some organizing (to help combat the kraken) I came across my middle school and high school yearbooks. Naturally I opened them up, and I was instantly looking through the Bright Window of Yesterday.

It’s amazing how much time has passed, and how much I’ve grown as a person.

It is strange that every time I think back to my childhood, everything just seems so bright and happy. Perhaps that is the way it is with everyone, we all see things as brighter than they are today.

As I gazed upon the familiar faces of those I attended school with, I felt a floodgate of memories and warm feelings open up. These small things we forget about as time passes us by, returning just as suddenly and just as powerful.

Out of curiosity, I turned to the wonders of social media to see what has become of those I spent so much time around as a youth. Many of them, if not most, have families of their own now. They are also leaving their twenties behind and entering their thirties. The torch has been officially passed on to my generation to be the adults now.

Yet, a lot of things from my generation’s past are becoming relevant again.

For example, just the other week, I was walking around an old mall I frequented when I was a teenager, and people (including myself) were wandering about catching certain “pocket monsters” while an old Britney Spears song played overhead. For a brief few moments, it was the late 90s once again. It was quite surreal, really.

So many fantastic adventures were had back in the day. But we must not linger too long within the past, or we may become absorbed by it.

 

It is at this time that we turn to a different window, dearest Mortals…

Greetings, Mortals! It has been too long.

Well, it has been about three months, but anyways…

I am coming out of a depression episode as I write this, and I almost always have the same experience when I do. To fully understand it, I will paint it this way for you:

Imagine, if you will, that you have finally escaped the tentacles of the eldritch horror that is your depression. You pull yourself from the abyss into a long and dark hallway. You’re so close to the end, and you almost feel a bit happy. Well, you reach the end of this hallway and find yourself standing in an empty room, a room with three windows. You know these windows all too well; you’ve seen them countless times before.

They are as follows:

 

The Bright Window of Yesterday

The Bleak Window of Today

The Indefinite Window of Tomorrow

 

You look through each window in that order, and when you are finished you are filled with a mix of emotions. Some happy, some sad, but all relevant to the person you are today. You leave that room a bit changed, for better or for worse.

The next three Episodes will elaborate on each window. Perhaps, in studying them, I can find a way of defeating my krakens once and for all.

In any case, dearest Mortals, you are coming along for the ride.

(Warning: Please keep your hands and legs inside the ride vehicle at all times. And please no flash photography. Thank You!)