Disillusionment

by Aquino, Joseph Andre Z. 3AD7
Submission for NS102

“Why do we opt for perfection?”

“Is it a norm to have a mindset that limited?” 

These are questions I asked myself as I walked home from school. My mind grew curious as to why we shackle ourselves to superficial beliefs that hinder us from our full potentials when we, as human beings, are unbounded, and we’re given the choice to be ignorant and oblivious about our surroundings.

The universe was created through deformity—it was never perfect, but by chance it was in the exact moment for our reality to exist. There is no such thing as perfect in this world, though sometimes things may seem ideal to our criteria that still isn’t perfect. If something is perfect, then there is nothing left—no place left for anyone to gain additional knowledge or develop abilities. Symmetry produces nothing more than appeal and admiration; it destroys our room for imagination. I myself see beauty in balance and uniformity but it constrains my ideas and produces something more manufactured than created. As an artist, this idea bothers me. I would like to see the appeal in my work, but if I have to address to a moral and produce substandard work, I would rather not make outputs.

As my mind travels deeper and further from which it originates, I can’t help asking more questions, including this: “Are we so fixated about what other people think about us? Or deep inside we are really insecure?” It is not clear in the society as to why we act this way or as to why we are curious about a caged life, but I would rather utilize continuous development and refinement for it has helped man in more ways than being organized and structured.

“Remember. You can feel it if you hold your hand against your chest. It belongs to no one. It’s our pulse, yours and mine. This is what brings us to the truth. It’s what proves that we are the very world itself. Follow your instincts. The answer is already there.”

Gerard Ellis Untitled (Disillusionment), 2013 Mixed Media on canvas

NOTE: Post I made since I did not join the Creative Writing Workshop of The Varsitarian.