This Body, in which I am entrapped, does not serve me.
It prevents me from doing everything I know I am capable of.
It tortures me with the reflected image of something I don’t feel like. Because deep down, I know I can fly.
I am also convinced that my true nature is way more complicated than what others assigned. I love so many more things and people than those I am allegedly allowed to.
And I would like to live forever, by the way.
I am not a body, I am an idea.
This Body is just Dead Wrong for me.
This post could be about gender identity. It is, but not only.
Suffice to say the following remarks and conclusions are based solely on what billions of people are seeing.
Anyone can access the box office list of movies. We’ll quickly find out that amongst the most-watched films in 2018, at least seven out of the top ten were about heroes. Avengers Endgame, by the way, is the best selling movie in history.
In other words, huge crowds are gathering to pay attention to stories that have a lot in common.
You just might have to read Joseph Campbell’s works if you’re really curious, but for now, let’s focus on the main reason!
Different Bodies and their Superpowers
We admire heroes’ movies for so many causes, but principally because they have superpowers. And we project ourselves onto those.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could harness the power of lightning with a hammer?
Or wield a lasso of truth that was virtually unbreakable?
Or, even further, manipulate time to satisfy your desire?
Maybe also withstand a nuclear explosion and still live to tell the tale?
And how about being able to shapeshift your Body into any form, human or otherwise?
The idea of having a body with such superpowers is but irresistible. Since it is such a human trait to desire, imagine, and try to adapt reality to our wishes. Thus, among so many other imaginary concepts, superheroes are the creative manifestation of many of our deepest desires.
From Body to Soul to Life to the Future
Our species seems to have a sharp taste on destroying boundaries. Because dreams are inherently subversive, and we are dreamers to the bone.
Our biological, evolutionary bodies are almost like an attempt to confine the limitless range of our souls. Whatever meaning you think a soul has.
So, in the end, we are spending our lives during this new era trying to escape those limits.
We use our imagination to create stories or our intelligence to advance technology. In the end, we fly, we connect thousands of miles away, we live longer, we see further, we redesign our shapes and looks, our identities. With flesh or lead.
And we’ll keep doing that. Until someday in the future, we won’t need to be born to a body.
I just hope our humanity survives that day.