andrewducker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
andrewducker) wrote2003-12-04 08:34 am
andrewducker) wrote2003-12-04 08:34 am
(no subject)
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
We all have to make them, small ones on a fairly constant basis, large ones hopefully a little wider apart. They're the junctions of the world, where we choose to make our turnings, and if you joined all your decisions together, you'd see the shape of your life, or at least of those bits of your life you were responsible for.
As I've slowly grown more responsible (or possibly grown more aware of my responsibility), I've become more aware of and focussed on decisions. I found them to be fascinating insights into character - after all, what tells us more about a character than what they choose to do (or not to do). When running and playing games I became interested in the moral choices that people would make, in putting characters into situations where there either was no right answer, or where characters would come up with solutions the others would find abhorrent.
The same was also true of stories in other media - books, comics and films. I lost a lot of interest in stories without a moral dimension - ones where there were no interesting choices to make. I re-read the Narnia series and became disappointed that, as the series progressed, the characters went from making decisions that affected the outcome of events to being pushed from plot point to plot point, being educated at each stage rather than taking any actual part in events.
[Poll #214798]
We all have to make them, small ones on a fairly constant basis, large ones hopefully a little wider apart. They're the junctions of the world, where we choose to make our turnings, and if you joined all your decisions together, you'd see the shape of your life, or at least of those bits of your life you were responsible for.
As I've slowly grown more responsible (or possibly grown more aware of my responsibility), I've become more aware of and focussed on decisions. I found them to be fascinating insights into character - after all, what tells us more about a character than what they choose to do (or not to do). When running and playing games I became interested in the moral choices that people would make, in putting characters into situations where there either was no right answer, or where characters would come up with solutions the others would find abhorrent.
The same was also true of stories in other media - books, comics and films. I lost a lot of interest in stories without a moral dimension - ones where there were no interesting choices to make. I re-read the Narnia series and became disappointed that, as the series progressed, the characters went from making decisions that affected the outcome of events to being pushed from plot point to plot point, being educated at each stage rather than taking any actual part in events.
[Poll #214798]
no subject
To me, the most baffling thing about how some people deal with problematic decisions they have made. Many people that I've encountered deeply regret one or more important decisions in their life. I can't think of a single major decision that I regret making. I often regret the external circumstances that forced me to make a particular decision, but in these cases (such as breaking off contact with a friend or lover who has become too difficult to deal with) I may regret the fact that I could no longer deal with the way they were, but I've never regretted the fact that I ceased dealing with them. I minorly regret trivial decisions, like choosing to put on nail polish while I was wearing a good pair of pants and getting the polish on them, but I don't really see how someone could regret making an important decision. It's not like I would make any of mine differently.
no subject