[LJ Idol] Here There Be Dragons.
There are dragons in the world, and some of them are in the places you don't expect to find them.
There are moments when something happens. Perhaps someone says a phrase, or shows you an image, or it's just a touch. But there's that moment. And deep in a cave within you, something rises.
It has slept, and it has fed on the little insults, the small angers, the things that prick you. The person who cuts in front of you in line at the store, or the person with a full cart at the 15 items or less register. The child who hasn't learned tact saying, "Look at the fat man, daddy." The woman who visibly judges you as being unworthy of even speaking to, much less responding to your hello. The things our society finds acceptable to let pass rather than cause a conflict. The little things that annoy us when we feel an irrational fear.
These are dragon food. It takes them in, and uses it to build its venom. It builds up the reserve, all the time biding its time for that moment.
And then something happens, and it strikes. It is within you, and it is part of you, and it uses you to strike out, to lash at that poor person who may not even recognize their offense against you.
In some people, the dragon is Murder, or Assault, or darker things. Some can restrain it to a cutting remark, the venom shooting out like Jormungandr on Thor, burning the target, and in return feeding their dragon.
Because we all have our Dragons within us.
What is important is how we face it when it rises. Some succeed in beating it down, some do not, and some get devoured by it.
We are all Dragons.
But we are also all Knights, or Heroes, and have it within us to face our Dragon and battle it. The Dragon is eternal; it only dies with us. In many ways, the quality of our battle with the dragon is a measure of ourselves.
Am I good at fighting my dragon? No, not really. But I admit that, and that helps me face it. Usually I can, at the very least, hold it back until I can get somewhere alone to do that battle, to fight it down. But not always...
...and the regret at not winning the battle itself feeds the Dragon.
It is always there, always waiting, and the struggle is never-ending.
There are moments when something happens. Perhaps someone says a phrase, or shows you an image, or it's just a touch. But there's that moment. And deep in a cave within you, something rises.
It has slept, and it has fed on the little insults, the small angers, the things that prick you. The person who cuts in front of you in line at the store, or the person with a full cart at the 15 items or less register. The child who hasn't learned tact saying, "Look at the fat man, daddy." The woman who visibly judges you as being unworthy of even speaking to, much less responding to your hello. The things our society finds acceptable to let pass rather than cause a conflict. The little things that annoy us when we feel an irrational fear.
These are dragon food. It takes them in, and uses it to build its venom. It builds up the reserve, all the time biding its time for that moment.
And then something happens, and it strikes. It is within you, and it is part of you, and it uses you to strike out, to lash at that poor person who may not even recognize their offense against you.
In some people, the dragon is Murder, or Assault, or darker things. Some can restrain it to a cutting remark, the venom shooting out like Jormungandr on Thor, burning the target, and in return feeding their dragon.
Because we all have our Dragons within us.
What is important is how we face it when it rises. Some succeed in beating it down, some do not, and some get devoured by it.
We are all Dragons.
But we are also all Knights, or Heroes, and have it within us to face our Dragon and battle it. The Dragon is eternal; it only dies with us. In many ways, the quality of our battle with the dragon is a measure of ourselves.
Am I good at fighting my dragon? No, not really. But I admit that, and that helps me face it. Usually I can, at the very least, hold it back until I can get somewhere alone to do that battle, to fight it down. But not always...
...and the regret at not winning the battle itself feeds the Dragon.
It is always there, always waiting, and the struggle is never-ending.