CutTheVolume

Conflict-aversion is my middle name --- so why do I like the movie Fight Club so much? Maybe because it (or more precisely, the novel by Chuck Pahlaniuk that the film is based on) brings so many extraordinary aphorisms to the table. There are pointed critiques of modern consumerism:

• "The things you own end up owning you."
• "Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions."
• "When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything: the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."
• "We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra."

... plus get-down-to-earth remarks about living:

• "It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything."
• "Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else."
• "And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom."

... thoughts that resonate (in a hugely exaggerated way) with my jogging experiences:

• "Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing."
• "I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more."

... off-the-wall anarchistic observations:

• "With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels."

... and the #1 favorite, most important and relevant of all:

• "After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down."

That's precisely the feeling one achieves, not from bashing another person (which I hope never to do or witness), but rather after a variety of simple, healthy, strenuous, focused, and profoundly satisfying activities --- whether physical or mental.

Every person's path is different, and changes from day to day. For me, right now, a long quiet run through the woods is a prime way to invoke the magic. It attenuates that constant buzz of all the lightweight ephemeral stuff, and creates a chance to relax and attend to important things ...

(see also ConflictAversion (22 Feb 2000), DialogueDensity (21 May 2002), GoodDay (25 Jun 2002), WelcomeToTheClub (11 Jun 2003), FightClub (15 Jun 2003), ...)

TopicRunning - TopicLiterature - TopicEntertainment - TopicSociety - TopicLife - 2004-03-05

(correlates: LetItSlide, GhostWritten, GentlemenPreferBlondes, ...)

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