A Mirror to Security
The long-awaited comic, Moon Knight, which was released on Disney+ in March of this year, was amazing in illustrating many concepts such as the power of the Egyptian Gods and their connection to the physical world even to this day. While there is much to be explored and expounded upon within this story, episode 5 of the series, titled “Asylum” will be my focus here. It was by far one of the most valuable among the aired six episodes.
In the episode called “Asylum”, it illustrated how and where one may find security when it comes to mental health. Marc Spector, who adopts the personality of and thus becomes Steven Grant, is shown to be running from his life in the past while he protects travelers of the night as Moon Knight and Mr. Knight (Mr. Knight was never named in the series). After dying in this episode, he is forced to confront that past life along with Steven Grant, his creation that was to protect him from the painful past he experienced. Evidently, throughout the series, the protection was for Steven Grant which failed sadly. The failure was a result of the fact that, no matter how much one runs from his/her past, it will always catch up to the individual and even knocks the person over in their daily life, making it a challenge to even live securely.
The most impactful way to find security, is to confront that past, tackle it in its entirety, and refuse to give up even when it is too painful to confront. The pain you confront later will possibly be more excruciating if you decide to handle the problem later. Furthermore, the effects upon you the longer the issue is put off may be more strenuous because of a plethora of factors such as age, experience, and growth, thus possibly impacting those who you love. The confrontation of this past is something I had highlighted in one of my spoken word poems years ago titled “Subconscious Awakening.” In that poem, I emphasized where the pinnacle of life is and how to get there by outlining the process that everyone goes through. We begin this life as a baby and end as a baby. Perhaps you have heard these lines before, “once a man, twice a child.” Even so, that adage outlines an important facet about happiness which I truly believe and that is, “happiness is in childhood.”
Observe children who are happy and enjoying life without responsibilities. That is the utmost bliss. They do not worry about life’s struggles; they are just exploring the world in their own young innocence. As adults, we make it a living hell for them when we bring our ego and self-interest into their world, thereby pushing them to begin their life as an adult earlier than necessary when they are still developing. It is in such moments that traumas are developed wherein young children start to realize the distaste in ‘differences’, wondering if they are linked with those who have differing lives than themselves. Such wonders compel them to compare the life they live with the life of others who may have factors and experiences completely different from theirs. Compared to decades ago, the stimuli that young people are exposed to on a countless basis through their digital devices intensifies their wonders, their worries, and their stresses. And for many, the world reflects the following lines to them and prepare them for competition without the necessary or sufficient resources, thus their working and competing without an understanding of expendability. See excerpt from “Subconscious Awakening” that highlights this below:
…we were taught as children [that we] must eventually die before the age of retire.
We were to become mindfully accomplished and be recognized for our successes cause the best would be hired.
We were to cut childish joys from our motivations and welcome the stress of the real-world proclamations – somehow, we became tired.
Our minds were re-shaped and we became experts at reshaping ourselves and continued the same manner of how to rewire.
And as it became overwhelming, we stepped out of our own mentalities,
reached for nature’s vitality,
hoping it supplemented our rewired conditionalities.
In Marc Spector’s case, after the death of his brother which his mother blamed him for, he no longer was able to enjoy his childhood. Inside, he destroyed himself and became Steven Grant and found his own way of success. He had rewired his mind as a young child, but eventually, things snuck up on him as a man and thus he was forced into confronting himself because the pain was becoming unbearable. He needed to look into his mirror, the mirror that Steven was in. Thus, he could live the following lines:
if we took the time to slow down, to think, to reflect, to inquire,
to observe nature’s capacity,
to ignore the illusion of time’s emphasis on swift productivity,
we could then see how much worth the journey of natural growth has,
like nature in its growing vitality.
We could then give time to unresolved memories
that we might have put behind as unnecessary entities,
which gives power to the truth à that the pinnacle of satisfaction
is within you.
The lines above were the case. By the time the episode concluded, by an unintentional fault, Steven died. In the same breath, life seemed to balance out suggesting that Marc losing Steven was like him confronting the reality that he will have to live with his past and deal with it. However, the pain remained because the loss of Steven was a part of him that was his past. The death of Steven is akin to having a jewelry sitting for years and never wearing it despite what it means deeply: the what, the who, the how of Marc Spector’s make up, thus, Marc refusing to live without Steven, a past that was part of his present daily and would be part of his future. Throughout the episode, Marc had difficulty connecting with Steven because he was trying to keep the past bottled in. He refused to share it with Steven until the resolution of the episode going into the next one.
Similar to you writing a journal about your harrowing experiences. Like you are meditating and connecting with a higher power on how to handle the past, confront the past, and move forward amicably. Like you talking to yourself without concern about what others may think – the confrontation of your reflective past. The fearless look into the Mirror will grant you security through the work and struggle to progress. Among other things, this is the purpose of “Time Transcendence: A Collective Awakening.” It forces one to tackle life experiences through theirs and others’; forces you to thoughtfully reflect on what has happened and what can be done in the present going toward the future.
Look at yourself. Undress yourself and see what you are. You are your past, you are your present, and you are your future. It is what makes you into the you of today. In the end, you are the sculptor, and you may shape a better future from your experiences. Be happy and secure with that ‘YOU’ that you see daily in the mirror. Be satisfied with that ‘YOU’ you have confronted and work to become a better person internally and externally.
Happiness is in childhood after all. The adult ‘you’ will recognize that happiness is not without chaos, thus the balance in life. And if you did not have that happy childhood, then you must create it.
