Complex Numbers

Fail

PROMPT May 28th

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Fly.

No, I don't mean go over to the airfield and take piloting lessons. I could have done that before, given enough time and money. I just couldn't be arsed. I'm talking about whooshing through the atmosphere, like Superman or whatever.

I mean, if I can't fail, that mans I'd be able to soar under my own power, right?

There are levels of failing. Trying to fly and failing could, depending on the circumstances, be fatal. "Oh, I'll just jump off this cliff and trust that I'll miss the ground below entirely." Trying to get a pilot's license, on the other hand, like I said, just takes time and money... along with a visual acuity that I no longer have, so that's right out at the moment. But even absent the vision problems, the thing stopping me has not been fear of failing (or crashing), or lack of funds (it's really not much more of an investment than many other lessons, unless you actually buy an airplane), or even lack of time. No, it's that I have no purpose for it other than being able to say "I can fly an airplane."

And that's not enough for me. I need at least two reasons to do something before I do it, preferably more. Funny enough, that doesn't apply to sitting on my ass and doing nothing. I don't need any reason to do that.

But I digress. Levels of failing. Something could be fatal, but so what? You could trip in your bathtub. Or you could fail by getting bored and giving up. That happens to me a lot, because squirrel. Or it could turn out that you're just no good at it, as is the case with me and musical instruments. None of these possibilities ever stopped me from trying something, though. One thing that does stop me is the amount of work involved for a certain level of reward. Brewing is like that. I have no interest in brewing my own beer, because a cursory examination of what is required told me that it's 1% enjoying the fruits of your labor, 2% actual brewing, and 98% cleaning. And yes, I'm aware that adds up to more than 100%.

Not worth it, not with thousands of breweries operating in the US alone, the products of which I could spend the rest of my life sampling with almost no effort on my part.

In other words, I have to believe that I'm going to enjoy the process, not just the end result.

Now, if I were assured that I couldn't fail at brewing -- meaning not only producing drinkable beer, but not getting bored with the process or finding out I have no talent for it after all -- I'd do it.

It's not flying, but it's close enough.

As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to see at least one movie a week at the cinema. Yesterday was the last chance for me to see Raya and the Last Dragon, so I opted for it over newer releases such as A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella, both of which I hope to see eventually but should be in the theater for the next few weeks. So hopefully I can continue to do brief reviews, because condensing a movie review into one sentence is as much a writing exercise for me as anything.

One-sentence movie review: Raya and the Last Dragon

This solidly-plotted, excellently-animated, and beautifully-voiced fantasy action movie from Disney succeeds in telling a compelling story; however, I question the appropriateness of the movie's central lesson (which seems to boil down to "trust your enemies;" a hell of a thing to teach a kid), and besides, I couldn't stop thinking that the movie's multi-pastel-colored dragons closely resemble My Little Ponies.

Rating: 4/5