Fate & The Journey

“The gods will invite you on a journey, if you refuse they’ll drag you kicking and screaming.”

This old saying (as roughly remembered by two filmmakers from Los Angeles) started us thinking; “Fate” and “Destiny” are all fine but what about “Free Will” isn’t that what supposedly separates us from the animals, an arrogance we don’t necessarily subscribe to by the way. Where’s our choice, our basic understanding of humanity? How do we hold these seemingly contradictory ideas in our heads while still keeping a sense of hope and wonder? Of course it depends on how we define these words and what their interpretations mean to each of us as individuals. To start, let’s look at how the dictionary defines these questions:

WEBSTERS DICTIONARY

FATE: [feyt] noun, verb 1.a prophetic declaration of what must be. 2. something that unavoidably befalls a person.

DESTINY: [des-tuh-nee] noun 1. something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing.

FREE WILL: noun 1. free and independent choice; voluntary decision. 2. Philosophy. the doctrine that the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine forces.

You can see where the problem comes in. Do we pick and choose our beliefs in order to keep our idea of what it is to be human? Or do we find a way to understand these ideas in context to our day to day lives. What can we learn from these ancient beliefs and philosophies? So with no disrespect to Mr.Webster we offer up our interpretations of these words. You can agree, disagree or anything in between but then again that’s your choice, it’s up to each one of us to decide. But that doesn’t mean we won’t try to convince you.

First off, Fate. We’re absolutely fine with Webster’s pronunciation of the word as [feyt] makes perfect sense to us. And Destiny as [des-tuh-nee] is just plain fun to see and say. As for Free Will - it’s simply [free wil] you don’t get much easier than that so ‘nough said. Also, his determination that they can be used as nouns and sometimes verbs, we can prescribe to that idea as well but that’s were the commonalities end.


STEVE & WHITNEYS DICTIONARY
FATE: [feyt] noun, verb 1.a person’s inevitable journey, the one the gods will be dragging you on should you ignore their invitation.

DESTINY: [des-tuh-nee] noun 1. the end of that journey, not always a physical odyssey but the understanding of a lesson learned.

FREE WILL: noun 1. how you go on that journey, whether it’s kicking and screaming, hating every minute and ignoring the lessons to be learned or whether you make the most of the test and enjoy the ride.

And one last area of agreement with Mr. Webster is for one (of many) of his definitions for the word Journey.

JOURNEY: [jur-nee] noun, verb 1. passage or progress from one stage to another: The journey to success.

What a wonderful definition and usage. Kind of wraps it up into a nice, concise and simply poetic idea. So we thank Mr. Webster for his knowledge. At times we agreed, at other times we did not. We took what we did from his insights and left the rest behind for others to ponder and in the end we hope you do the same.

Thanks!
Steven & Whitney