Blog Set 12: Don't Bury Me And Be Careful What You Wish For!

"The Premature Burial" 

Have you ever heard of the adage, "You can worry yourself sick?" How about, "Thoughts grow into our worst fears?" The premise that all thoughts eventually lead to our own affliction is not entirely factual, but does stand to make a good argument that something can be grown within the mind to dangerously sickening proportions. Can someone worry himself or herself to sickness? My answer is: yes. That's speaking from personal, first-hand experience. There was a time in my life when I would worry about everything! I mean ev-ery-thing. My first flight to London was horrendously dreadful as I imagined all of the thousands upon thousands of possible tragic outcomes that come with flying in an airplane: the plane might experience engine failure, I might catch an incurable disease, or someone will steal from me, etc. These thoughts eventually grew so deep into my mind that weeks prior to my trip, I was undergoing the physical complications of extreme anxiety: sweaty palms, upset stomach, headaches, and there were always the horrible images of trypophobia flashing across my mind. It was utter misery that I was putting myself through. All of this beginning in my mind and radiating outward into true physical manifestations; I hated myself for thinking up all of the horrific scenarios. 

My personal experiences can easily be related to our narrator in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, "The Premature Burial”. He worries about being buried alive so much that he sets up an elaborate system of "fail/safes.” To his climactic conclusion, during a hunting trip with friends, he assures to himself that the constant fear of the unknown cannot shadow his need to live in the moment. He sets aside his fears and carries on without hesitation to the possible grim realities that might befall him in the most assuring of certainties. 

After my trip to London and returning safely home, I was recommended to several doctors and holistic healers for my "homegrown" fears. After seeing a plethora of professionals and educating myself on the vast array of self-help tips, my anxieties and inner mind fears were pretty much all but eliminated from my psyche. During the subsequent years after my intensive treatment, I successfully traveled numerous times to Europe and throughout the United States. I also found helpful tricks of the mind to keep my worries of the possibilities that life might throw at me in check. One of which, is my favorite, "STOP IT!" Video enclosed. 

I would assume that Poe understood psychology of the mind and that fear is grown outward from the mind and very rarely inward to the mind. He ever so elegantly draws his readers into their darkest fears of being buried alive by telling us short captivating stories. Once he has our undivided attention, he goes in for the kill. He recalls his own close call of being buried alive and does not foreshadow the moral outcome of his tale. Only at the very end of the short story does he assert his mental recheck onto our minds the notion that fear can be deafening to the soul's enjoyment of life. Similar to my experience, I can only look back with self-confidence that I overcame my fears. Now, what about you? 

"The Monkey's Paw"

        Be careful what you wish for. You never know what you might just get. This story was chillingly captivating and mysterious. The realm of supernatural streams over this story like a dense fog over a moor. You can feel the anxiety in the air as the solider foreshadows the doom that comes from the usage of the Monkey's Paw. The elements of magic and unseen powers directing fate are strong foundations to the unexplained world.

        We have all had our wishful thinking periods in a lives. Winning the lottery or being humble enough to get that dream job, are all possibilities, if we believe. "The Monkey's Paw" by J.J. Jacobs plays into those very notions of thought. The what if's to everyday occurrence and the unlikely results of irresponsible wishing. After reading this story, I remembered a short tale about a man who wished for a million bucks. The magic lamp, which housed a powerful genie granted this person his wish by making a million "buck" deers appear. I assume he should have been a little more detailed in explaining, a million US dollar bills than a million bucks.

        The supernatural is an unseen truth of the human condition. Throughout the ages, this unexplained world has been our salvation and excuse for our way of life and moral compass. It gives us hope that there is a life beyond this physical one and that sometimes, a coincidence is not always what it seems to be. If you wish for someone to return from the dead, be sure to detail that they should be restored to their previous self, not their current rotting condition. What gets me is the ignorance of the parents and their foolish wish requests. It was only during their desperate time of need, did the father's logical request in sending his mangled sons body away made me feel assured that providence prevailed. What a trip! Could you imagine if Disney's Aladdin played out like this story? I'm sure the parents would have loved that!