sunflower fairy

My thesis proposal is practically done. I am writing the refinements of my Bibliography. I worked on this for months and it is a birthday gift to myself when I turned 37 last May 19.

I am happy that I have accomplished this far. Yet, I am aware there’s more work to be done until I am really, really through with my thesis. I liken myself to a patient mountain climber. I congratulate myself for the distance I have covered; and survey the path left behind and the path that lies ahead.

I have to defend the proposal and once it gets approved; there’s data gathering to look forward. I know it would be another exciting adventure because I am going to meet people who will share with me their memories of Mindanao.

I am preparing the ground for the next uphill climb. I know that lessons learned would help me persevere to make it to the next "camp".

I have learned to appreciate baby steps and mustered the courage to take leaps of faith as I continue. I am tired right now, yet, there’s time for respite.

Sigh…

Imagine a super hero having a dark side? Is he still a hero? This theme was explored in the recent Spiderman movie. In the story, a chemical substance preyed host on him and slowly he succumbed to its dark nature. His evil side was revealed. First, he became insensitive to the feelings of his girlfriend. He was not listening to her anymore. He became self-centered and realized how popular and well-loved he is as a hero. This got into his head and I can say he became short of a megalomaniac.

Seemingly, his dark nature is revealed as a result of an external element. But the series of events in his life weakened him. He is hounded by the past; the death of his uncle in the hands of a criminal who is on the loose haunted him. He felt guilty for punishing the wrong person whom he mistook killed his uncle. His internal defenses are down. He became an easy prey and his evil side gained strength.

Paying attention to semiotics, I find it interesting when he entered a Catholic church to divest himself of the black Spiderman costume which clothed him in evil. My naive reading is: Spiderman man is Roman Catholic. (har har). And he needs to go to church to summon his good nature. (Hardy har har)

I think everyone noticed the scene where Spiderman flew over the hoisted American flag. More semiotics. America is the home of super hero Spiderman. America is a super power.

Nothwithstanding, I still think Spiderman is my kind of hero. Showing his dark side and conquering it makes him my kind of hero.