“If you’ve never been very ill or known someone who has struggled with a serious illness or injury, it can seem a bit facile when you hear people say that someone going through something like that is very brave. It sounds like a cheap platitude — and sometimes it is — and from a distance, their “struggle” looks a lot like passivity. The thing is, the bravery isn’t in taking medication, or going through physical therapy or whatever treatment is being prescribed, but rather in being forced to reckon with your mortality, and seriously consider your faith in science and religion. It’s in coping, and finding the strength to fight, or the courage to give up. That’s what “Hope” is about.”
—
Fluxblog » Blog Archive » You Want To Go Forever
“Hope,” for a long time, has been one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, even though it’s perhaps the least indicative of their sound.
Matthew’s also spot on here - you have to go through this experience yourself (or, rather, watch someone close to you go through it) to appreciate it - to make it evolve from a cliche to a truth about humanity.
Hang in there, Matthew.
September 09, 2009, 11:28am
