Arisia and Baggage

Recently, I attended a day at Arisia in Boston.  It is a fantasy and sci-fi convention that I have never attended before.  My attendance was short; only a half day on Saturday, but I learned a lot.  I decided when I arrived to go to a panel I wouldn't normally have attend; transgender in scifi/fantasy fandom.  I sat, listened, and took in as much as possible.  However, the biggest thing that I learned was from one member of the panel who spoke to the struggles people face as they go through life.

She explained that what made her experience at the convention so amazing was that we were all essentially there to be dreaming of and experiencing worlds that are better than our present.  She explained this by saying that most people have baggage.   Once you cross 30 or so, you realize everyone has baggage at that point.  With that burden comes a tendency to drift to different worlds of fantasy in which we find solace.  I couldn't have agreed more.  Life is tough, and sometimes we need a safe place.

However, let me be clear, folks.  This inspiring explanation was not strictly referring to escapism.  It was, in a way, actually bringing to life the idea that we're not JUST trying to escape.  Rather, we are all trying to grasp at the worlds we want to see manifest in our lives today, or in the future.  There is a great difference between escapism and envisioning a better life.  Sure, I enjoy submersing myself in a fantastical story about times and places I don't know, or a great film that wraps me up in an unknown reality.  But, behind all that, is the realization that I have some scars that I can use to my advantage to bring forth a better world.  You have this capability, too.

"Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around us in awareness."  -James Thurber

Everyone carries around baggage as if we're all walking around the airport of our lives trying to find the right gate.   I think that if we carry it with us into our future, we can use what we've packed away to help us.  We can look forward in awareness.  After all, it gets better.  Just don't forget a towel.