#creative destruction

OTHER GALAXIES

40 x 80 cm

[available]

It’s called Creative Destruction. There’s some of the same worldbuilding from But a Dream and I KNOW I have fans of that following my blog so go check this one oute !

Oops I meant to make this post short, but it's a bit long...HAHA OH WELL.

Metamorphosis

In both Pinocchio and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, one of the main concepts is metamorphosis. It was also a central idea in DAYS. One is always growing and transforming into something entirely different. In Pinocchio's case, his life stages included the following:

Puppet -> Puppet/Human -> Human

Child -> Adult

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, stages of progress towards freedom/liberation is described as :

Camel -> Lion -> Child; The camel (Dora) is a "preserver" that upholds established values and maintains order by bearing the burdens of others, easing their load. Eventually, the camel realizes its a slave to the wills and values of masters and some things shouldn't be preserved. The camel transforms into the lion (Myul Mang). The lion is the "destroyer" that goes against norms and understands some traditions should come to an end. To overcome the what's been established, the lion must overcome a part of itself. The lion transforms into the child. The child is the "creator". Creation is redemption. The child (human Myul Mang) is a new beginning that is free to create its own will and values. The child redeems the past to give rise to a better and brighter future.

Last Man -> Man/Human -> Overman

Other symbolism of metamorphosis is the butterfly's life cycle which includes 3 different stages:

Caterpillar -> Chrysalis -> Butterfly

Life -> Death -> Rebirth

Child -> Adult

Life Is Both Creation and Destruction + Self-Overcoming

Life is which always overcomes itself. It destroys and creates itself, getting more powerful each time it does so. This notion can be applied to your own lives. Do you think you're the same person as you were a few years ago? I sure hope not. If you think about it this way, you'll see in a metaphorical sense that you've engaged in multiple cycles of life and death by now. In order to become something new, one must first destroy one's former self. In doing so, one grows to become a stronger individual. Sometimes the catalyst for growth and transformation is love for others while other times its pain and suffering (either mental or physical). Bottom line, we must always overcome everything to grow. The power to do so lies within yourself.

And life itself confided this secret to me: "Behold" it said, "I am that which must always overcome itself."

Rather would I perish than forswear this; and verily, where this is perishing and a falling of leaves, behold, there life sacrifices itself-- for power. That I must be struggle and a becoming and an end and an opposition to ends -- alas, whoever guesses which is my will should also guess on what crooked paths it must proceed. -Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

At this point, I don't know what else needs to be said concerning this matter. I've discussed it multiple times now to the extent I think I sound like a broken record. I would hope you all have recognized that each character is overcoming themselves so that they can become something greater. In Dong Kyung's case, she has to overcome the loss of Myul Mang, her negative view of life, and her fear of losing anything. The power to do so can only come from within herself. How do any of us overcome obstacles in own lives? By discovering our inner strength and will to keep going. Everyone will have to go encounter many obstacles for the rest of their lives. Sometimes our world does get destroyed when we lose a loved one, but that doesn't mean we can't create a new world. All of this is cyclic. Like the ever changing seasons, we rise/create and we fall/destroy continuously throughout our lives. That's life and it's all so beautiful. Ultimately, always long for doom in your life because that's what is going to help you grow as a person forever.

“To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities—I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not—that one endures.” -Friedrich Nietzsche, Will to Power

Life Is About Making Choices

Prevalent in DAYS is the theme of choices. Think about all the choices Dong Kyung has made thus far. If you do so, you'll see that most of the time Dong Kyung tends to take the easier route. For example, Dong Kyung chose the job she worked in because it was the first company to contact her. She chose to never voice her opinions because that was easier than the alternative. She chose death over life because dying is easier than living. Dong Kyung wanted to die herself because it was easier than having to face death of a loved one and the many associated pains that stems from loss a loved one. Do you think one gains anything by taking the easy route/choice? No, not really. It's when one chooses the harder choice between the two that one is able to grow.

"To this day you have the choice: either as little displeasure as possible, painlessness in brief or as much displeasure as possible as the price for the growth of an abundance of subtle pleasures and joys that have rarely been relished yet." - Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science/ The Joyful Wisdom

It's always easier to face one's own death than the death of a loved one. A few years ago, I nearly died while attending a dinner party. I was randomly and brutally attacked by an 80lb dog. Surprisedly, I didn't fear my own death. My only thought during that time was that I hope it would be quick. Fast forward to last year when I lost my grandma. She had lived with me all my life and practically raised me since my parents were working all the time. She was my world-- the person I'd loved and cherished above all else. When she died, I felt like my whole world was destroyed. It was then that I realized that I'd feared her death more so than my own.

In the months following her death, I thought to myself I should chose to never love again because at least then I would spare myself the experience of feeling this immense pain and suffering again and again. The harsh reality is that sooner or later, we all have to face the inevitable that is the death of loved ones -- we don't really have a say in that. What we do have a say in is how we handle their deaths. That's our choice. We can choose to love and lose again or not at all. We can choose to embrace life and death in its totality or deny it altogether. We can chose to grow or not.

My grams was quite an extraordinary person. Despite experiencing some unbearable tragedies in her life, she never let any of them weigh her down and was always light and cheery. She'd never let anything limit her, not even her age. I mean my grams was nearly a century old dinosaur who loved to zoom down hills with me in a golf cart. She was always such a free, unrestricted, and flexible person. She was also a really eccentric person. Maybe it's because she never took life/death too seriously. For as long as I could remember, grams always gave her annual "death talk" as I grew to call them. I dreaded hearing them and often I would try my best to prevent her from giving them. Sadly, I didn't recognize their importance until after she died. That was her final lesson and joke. HAHA, good one Grams. So where was I going with this anecdote? Oh right.

One of the things my grams's life and death taught me is that I should always choose the more difficult choice to continually grow. Sure, these things can be learned from kdramas and books, but I don't think they'll make any significant impact until you've experience it yourself by simply living life.

Thanks Grams for sharing your 96 years worth of knowledge with me!

Burdens

Burdens....burdens....what to say about this. Well, it's been an ongoing theme in DAYS and it's a topic Nietzsche discussed in great depth about in, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Instead of calling burden --burden, Nietzsche called it "the spirit of gravity".

So what about burdens? Well, they can weigh both you and those around you down.

The ostrich runs faster than the fastest horse, but even he buries his head gravely in the grave earth; even so the man who has not yet learned to fly. Earth and life seem grave to him; and thus the spirit of gravity wants it. But whoever would become light and a bird must love himself.

One must love to love oneself--thus I teach-- with a wholesome and healthy love, so that one can bear to be with oneself and need not roam. Such roaming baptizes itself "love of the neighbor": with this phrase the best lies and hypocrisies have been perpetrated so far, and especially by such as a grave burden for all the world.

"Yes life is a great burden." But only man is a great burden for himself! That is because he carries on his shoulders too much that is alien to him. Like a camel, he kneels down and lets himself be well loaded. Especially the strong, reverent spirit that would bear much: he loads too many alien grave words and values on himself, and then life seems like a desert to him. -Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

It's hilarious Im Meari chose to depict this scene with the old lady the way she did. In one of the chapters of TSZ, Nietzsche talked about how generous old ladies are the way they are because they had been victims of having to carry many burdens their entire life.

Anyways, the thing about burden is its freaking infectious and a prison. From you, it spreads to those surrounding you and its like everyone is in a freaking prison of burden. So how to put an end to all of this? Simple...learn to love yourself. Yes I know that's easier said than done, but when you do learn this, it can be the most liberating feeling ever. And then it becomes a gift that keeps on giving.

Nietzsche went onto saying that by loving yourself, you could face the heaviest burden (eternal return) and basically be like "that's not a heavy burden at all because I love my fate". When applying this to Dong Kyung, one can see that because she hates herself a lot, it becomes detrimental to both herself and those surrounding her. I hope in the last episodes, she will finally learn to love herself and her fate (love it all--pain and joy) so that she can become liberated.

Life Is Not A Tragedy. It's A Comedy

Life as a whole is not a tragedy. It's one big comedy. If you can't laugh at life then what can you laugh at? That's the tragic part lol! I mean even when Dong Kyung was experiencing all those bad luck events in the beginning, I found it funny. All of us have probably experienced so sort of "tragedy" in our lives, but when you look at it as a whole I hope you will find it funny at one point or another. Sometimes, things are so painful that the only thing one can do is to laugh. HAHAHA.

Summary of Final Predictions and/or Theories for EPs 15-16

Dong Kyung lives and her brain cancer goes into Dora

Dora kicks the bucket....cue funeral

Myul Mang comes back as a human and Dong Kyung runs into him somewhere that held significance for them. Either at the crosswalk, hospital, subway, beach, etc.

Myul Mang and Dong Kyung get married (For all that is holy or whatever, this writer better not copy TOTNT by having a wedding with flowers falling; I'm holding onto a small glimmer of hope that this writer will write a wedding that is original and unique)

Dora creates a new herald of doom to maintain balance (KIM YONG JI????)

Final Thoughts

Something I'm still not sure about is the mystery surrounding Dora's previous death and the death of Dong Kyung's parents. There is a connection, but as to what that connection is I don't know. I'm not sure how Dora died in her previous life, but that probably doesn't matter. Who knows... maybe Dora chose to crash into Dong Kyung's parents car. Or maybe as her parents were dying they had wished Dong Kyung would have a happy life and Dora being the slave had to obey their will. Therefore, Dora had to set things in motion by dying during that time. Whether the writer will go into that is left in the air. It would've been something interesting to explore. Regardless, Dora's purpose for dying at a specific time was meant to bring Dong Kyung and Myul Mang together.

Anyways, I want to give a big THANK YOU TO DAYS cast and crew!! To SIG, PBY, LSH, SDH, KTO, JJS, WHJ, and DW, thank for giving us top notch acting and beautiful chemistry!! It was beyond amazing!!!!!! I kept watching this show because of you all! And I'll definitely be looking forward to your future works with great anticipation!!!!!

To the writer, I have this to say: Thank you for writing a script and inspiring me to reread Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Don't be afraid to formulate your own ideas and follow through with them regardless of what others may think. Writing your own ideas with passion is all the validation you'll need. You don't need to literally copy other screen writers' and philosophers' ideas, words, and style to make your story great!

Whelp I hope you all have enjoyed reading whatever I have wrote! Hope it wasn't confusing for you all! Actually, I'm certain this post is pretty disjointed and filled with grammatical mistakes....FUCK IT...THIS ISN'T EVEN MY ACTUAL THESIS...HAHA ! Anyways, I've tried my best to break everything down and explained things in a variety of ways so that you all could understand what was going on and connect the dots. If you still didn't understand then I'm sorry lol !! Best advice I can give everyone with regards to this show is think in the least obvious way. With the words used in the show, don't go for the 1st definition, go for the 2nd, or 3rd, etc. As with TOTNT, I probably won't do a write up for the final episodes of DAYS unless there's something that is completely mind blowing and worth further discussion. Goodbye!