CREED - STANDARDS - FATE

A Creed, is more like a law that everyone has to follow. This law is set up by generations of development and revolution. This is what is expected. Expected of people, expected as the natural way the world should run. SHOULD is a key word. a Creed is defined as “A system of belief, principles, or opinions.” Though the most common place to find the term “creed” is in religion. My point is not religious. My point is: Society has expectations. Society is represented by the mass of people as one, including/lead by political representative as well as ethical and unethical human reasoning.

Standards are “an object that under specified conditions defines, represents, or records the magnitude of a unit”. In order to fulfill your Creed/Expectations, you must physically, mentally, emotionally rise to the expectations being met. My point? Not everyone can do that. Everyone, individually, can not met the standards set by the “norm”. An example: A student living in poverty may do poorly in a class he is expected to get an A in because every night he comes home to another family argument. If one is to be judged in how they are vs. how they are suppose to be, the standards’ factors answers the “why” question that connects the two.

“The Fates, like an absent-minded printer, seldom allow a single line to stand perfect and unmarred” —George Santayana, A Spanish-American philosopher of life and destiny. If Creed is what Should be than Fate is what was Meant to be. If everyone was a successful business man, who would there to work in the mills? If every student got straight A’s, than what would our economy look like, if everyone all qualified to the CEO job? I’m not going to argue a predestined force having control over our lives; nor will I argue nature vs. nurture. I do stand on the threshold of things that are meant to be because of our complexity as human beings. Weather if we do or do not met the standards and fulfill our Creeds, we stand as what is in all reality, without expectations. This is what we are, when we have met, or fell shy of, the expectations at hand. example: I got a job, been here for a while, and they want me to be a manager. I do not have the competence in myself to completely know what i am doing to be a manager, despite that i put on a good show of being management material because i wish to be noticed. 2nd Example: I am good at what I do, I understand what is being asked of me, I know how to use what has been given me (knowledge, materials, etc. ) I am pleased to have the chance.

I consider myself to be a fatalist kind of woman, I accept what is and i move on. Crying or worrying about things are not going to make them any better. Does that in essence mean I live a stress free life? No. But the mindset helps. Not everyone is in control of their lives. Again, I am not arguing religion, I am standing on the point that when you have a bowl fill of ants, one of those ants is getting stepped on by the one on top of the one on top of him. I understand, as a person, there are things expected of me, and I seek to answer the call of the conflicts that pop up. It gets hard, I’ve cried and mourned and fought, but along the way, you can’t help by uncover a few things about yourself. From when I was a kid to a teenager, I felt like I was doomed to be alone with loser friends or a bleak personality. I was expected to be a social, smart individual. I met the standards the best I could, and the result was nothing more than what it was meant to be. I did what I did and there’s nothing in the world that’s going to change it. Now the best part about this, is that the cycle doesn’t end there, it continues on until the end of your life. (Yes, back to the circle/revolution theme from earlier, didn’t think I could end without the cliche, did you? Yup.) Creeds are always changing. There are those that are static, like morals and ethical reasoning, than there are some like the role at a job or at home as a husband or wife or child.

Mythology Reference:

The story of Daphne and Apollo comes to mind. Eros, aka Cupid, struck Apollo with the golden arrow of Love and struck Daphne, a forest nymph, with a lead-tipped arrow, preventing her from ever feeling Love. Apollo chased after the girl until she called upon the gods for help, unto which she was transformed into a tree. The Creed for Apollo is that he should have this nymph for his own. The creed for Daphne is that Apollo should leave her in peace. The standards are pushing eachother back and forth like opposing ends of a magnet. Until, Daphne is transformed into a tree- the Fate. The story goes back to the Creed, a creed of ethics, one can not love someone if they are nothing loved in return. That is the expectations. If you were to pursue this anyway, as a way of falling short to the standard, your fate would be that of a broken heart. OR love can come from the ashes of burnt desire. Again, nothing is predestined, but any line of event in one’s life, with all the chaos that surrounds the happenings in one’s life, can fall into the same formula. Creed - Standard - Fate.