I saw the end of Star Trek Voyager on the day before yesterday. I have become more than a casual fan of the serial. One of the reasons I like the serial (or so I tell myself !) is for the ideas it introduces. I have mentioned what I like in the entire Star Trek series in my previous blog. Another aspect that I find in the serial is that there are lessons that I find I can apply in my life as well !
Of course, it is actually the other way around. The creators of the serial and the screenplay writers borrow lessons and incidents from life and depict it on the small screen, extrapolating the incidents. Still, the way the packaging in the serial has been done is to my liking !
The final episode of Star Trek Voyager illustrates what I mean. The starship Voyager is originally adrift 70,000 light years from home. The story of the serial is one of an odyssey to come back home. Along the way, there are adventures, enemies and friends to be made. The protagonists face problems and overcome them and celebrate events that bring them joy. Finally, it appears that there is a way to cut 23 years of journey, but the route would expose a grave danger to the people back home.
A tough choice awaits the captain of Voyager : stay in an area that is approximately 23 years away from home and destroy the way of shortening this long journey or take the short cut, but expose mankind (and other kind !) to a danger that everybody wants to avoid. She asks her key crew members about what they feel and one young crewman speaks up.
What he says is that though he is probably the most obsessed among the crew with returning home, he would not be the one to do it by abandoning the principles that the crew has believed in during their seven long years of exile. He says that he speaks for the crew that he would not be any place else nor with anyone else than where he was or the people that he was with. As a speech, it was emotional, but what impressed me was the toast that he proposed : it was, simply : "To the journey". Please note that it was not "To the destination" !
What a toast it is ! How many times have I said : "To the journey" ? It has been on few occasions, there can be no two ways about that. I feel that somewhere down the line, in my life and in all our lives, the destination has become top priority rather than the journey. Obsessed with career and the quest for home, car and power, we appear to have lost sight of what a pleasant time we can have, if we choose to.
On the day before yesterday, six of us at work went out for lunch. The food was good, but what caught our eyes was a young baby happily playing with a shiny spoon in the table next to ours. I would say that the baby was the happiest person in the hotel at that time !
On the day before that, we had a sudden downpour in our city. The shock of the cold rain on my hands was a pleasant sensation. I came home with a song on my lips. It is the simple joys of life that make it worthwhile ! I guess it is on such occasions that I inwardly raise the toast that the young crewman did. When I have a bad day at work, I rarely think about the toast though. Hopefully, I will continue to remember the toast in both difficult times and good times. I shall end with the toast :"To the journey" !
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COMMON BLOG INTRODUCTION TEXT
=============================
When I created my first blog, I
thought I was being clever by being
anonymous and let my opinions speak for
themselves (see the archive !) Imagine
my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still
retain the blog name as "Anonymous
Expressions", I will only request you
to ignore my name and concentrate on my
opinions instead !
All copyrights are acknowledged.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs
are my personal opinions. Please tell
me if you don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your
point, I will correct the mistake. You
can contact me by emailing me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
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Of course, it is actually the other way around. The creators of the serial and the screenplay writers borrow lessons and incidents from life and depict it on the small screen, extrapolating the incidents. Still, the way the packaging in the serial has been done is to my liking !
The final episode of Star Trek Voyager illustrates what I mean. The starship Voyager is originally adrift 70,000 light years from home. The story of the serial is one of an odyssey to come back home. Along the way, there are adventures, enemies and friends to be made. The protagonists face problems and overcome them and celebrate events that bring them joy. Finally, it appears that there is a way to cut 23 years of journey, but the route would expose a grave danger to the people back home.
A tough choice awaits the captain of Voyager : stay in an area that is approximately 23 years away from home and destroy the way of shortening this long journey or take the short cut, but expose mankind (and other kind !) to a danger that everybody wants to avoid. She asks her key crew members about what they feel and one young crewman speaks up.
What he says is that though he is probably the most obsessed among the crew with returning home, he would not be the one to do it by abandoning the principles that the crew has believed in during their seven long years of exile. He says that he speaks for the crew that he would not be any place else nor with anyone else than where he was or the people that he was with. As a speech, it was emotional, but what impressed me was the toast that he proposed : it was, simply : "To the journey". Please note that it was not "To the destination" !
What a toast it is ! How many times have I said : "To the journey" ? It has been on few occasions, there can be no two ways about that. I feel that somewhere down the line, in my life and in all our lives, the destination has become top priority rather than the journey. Obsessed with career and the quest for home, car and power, we appear to have lost sight of what a pleasant time we can have, if we choose to.
On the day before yesterday, six of us at work went out for lunch. The food was good, but what caught our eyes was a young baby happily playing with a shiny spoon in the table next to ours. I would say that the baby was the happiest person in the hotel at that time !
On the day before that, we had a sudden downpour in our city. The shock of the cold rain on my hands was a pleasant sensation. I came home with a song on my lips. It is the simple joys of life that make it worthwhile ! I guess it is on such occasions that I inwardly raise the toast that the young crewman did. When I have a bad day at work, I rarely think about the toast though. Hopefully, I will continue to remember the toast in both difficult times and good times. I shall end with the toast :"To the journey" !
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
=============================
COMMON BLOG INTRODUCTION TEXT
=============================
When I created my first blog, I
thought I was being clever by being
anonymous and let my opinions speak for
themselves (see the archive !) Imagine
my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still
retain the blog name as "Anonymous
Expressions", I will only request you
to ignore my name and concentrate on my
opinions instead !
All copyrights are acknowledged.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs
are my personal opinions. Please tell
me if you don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your
point, I will correct the mistake. You
can contact me by emailing me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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