Willamena
09-01-2005, 05:17
This is an essay I wrote a couple years ago. Comments are welcome.
_____________________
The only rules that really matter are these: What a man can do, and what a man can't do. - Captain Jack Sparrow
I missed the bus this morning. Not an unusual thing, but it got me thinking about fate and destiny. I reached the street corner and saw the bus go by just as the light turned red, preventing me from crossing the street. It wasn't important for me to get to work on time, I could afford to be late. So when I reached the street corner and missed the light, it occurred to me that it was "not meant to be" that I catch that particular bus at this particular time.
This may sound a bit, well, fatalistic, and that's exactly what it is: it is a bowing to fate, to the circumstances of bad timing. There was an acknowledgement of circumstances that were beyond my control, but in the same thought an acknowledgement that there were things I could have done to alter the outcome of the morning: I could have exerted myself and crossed the street illegally, waved to the bus driver and perhaps he would have stopped. I could have walked faster to reach the corner instead of enjoying the morning, and perhaps have caught the light while it was green. I could have left home a few minutes earlier instead of taking time to clean out the kitty litter. In other words, if I had done things differently I might have caught that bus but I didn't, and it was no surprise that I would be late to work. I participated in the morning's events with deliberation and with full awareness of the possible outcome.
An online survey I did recently confirmed that most people ignore, dismiss or deny the notions of fate and destiny because they are taught the words mean that they are not in control of their own choices or circumstances, yet they know that they are in control. If a person believes in the monotheistic God they may recognize fate as predestination and rationalize that God gave them free will, so that ends that. If the person doesn't believe in God, they may lump it in with speculative fancy and say, "I am in control of my life" and be done with it. If they believe fate is a force, it falls outside the realm of natural universal forces that act on us, and if they believe the source is some sort of supernatural intelligence then it falls in the category of superstition. Some just don't think about it at all.
Yet despite all this, some people do recognize fate and acknowledge it in their lives. They know it when they see it; there is that moment of understanding that they are participating in something greater than the sum of the parts. And most people assert a belief in "creating one's own destiny," shaping it by exercising free will and the power of choice. Well, there is good news for those who would like to reconcile the apparent discrepancy betweem these uses of the words and their dictionary definitions. The usage of "fate" as something we participate in and a "destiny" shaped by our free will harken back to a time when the concepts were not immutable-- some two and a half to three thousand years ago-- when fate and free will were not mutually exclusive.
Although now-a-days the words are used interchangeably, fate and destiny are distinguishable things. Modern usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events, and adds an aura of doom and gloom. The definition of fate has it that if events are ordered or "meant to be" that they are put in order by a force or intelligence beyond us, acting upon us, usually for the worst ("the jury determined his fate"). Fate is used in reference to the finality of events as they have worked themselves out, and that same finality is projected to the inevitability of events as they will work themselves out in the future. Fate also has a morbid association with finality in the form of "fatality".
Destiny has none of the negative connotations of fate. Whereas fate is personified in dark, frightening forms like the three Fates of Greek mythology, destiny is radiant and beautiful, full of hope, inspiring awe. Whereas the fate of peoples, nations, worlds and even the universe can be widely discussed, when the word "destiny" is properly invoked it is in relation to the course of a life. Destiny usually applies to something more significant than everyday matters (like missing a bus) but the idea can inform all aspects of our lives. Used in the present tense destiny or fate refers to the course of someone's life in the future ("her destiny is to be leader", "his fate is decided; he will be executed"). Destiny or fate used in the past tense is "one's lot" and includes the sum of events leading up to a currently achieved outcome ("it was her destiny to be leader", "it was his fate to be executed"). Do you see the difference between fate and destiny in these examples? Fate is an outcome determined by an outside agency acting upon an individual, but with destiny the individual is participating in achieving an outcome that is directly related to himself or herself.
Destiny has the same root as "destination": destine, to direct something towards a given end ("she is destined to be leader"). Without an individual's willful participation, there is no destining. Destiny cannot be forced on someone; if they are forced into circumstances then that is their fate. There was a scene in the movie Whale Rider when the whales had beached and Paikea walked up to the big one and gently kissed it. She had reached a state of consciousness where the messages she had absorbed from the mythologies that she had heard all of her life (memorized, sang and enacted in dance on stage) moved from her subconscious mind into conscious awareness, where she was informed by the myth of the Whale Rider. Up until then there was doubt in the audience's mind that she would be leader; circumstances looked dim. But in that moment she knew that she was leader, and she knew her destiny. Events, as they played out, had guided her to this place and this time. She did what she did next with full awareness-- it was what the leader must do; it was what the first Whale Rider had done. She embraced her destiny to be leader the moment she real-ized it (made it real). Plus she saved a bunch whales, which was cool.
Why did the whales beach? Did they do it for her benefit? because she called them? That is fate, the objective events: the opportunities and the limitations placed before us; the circumstances we are bound to that are beyond our control, and sometimes even beyond our meger understanding as to how they happened, but are a part of our destiny in that they shape us. Fate is the backdrop on which destiny plays out. Why did she ride the whale and become leader? That is her destiny, what she determined will be by directly participating in what was happening. She directed circumstances towards a certain outcome, and in doing so determined future circumstances. By particpating in our destiny, we shape fate.
Is it any wonder the words are interchanged these days? The concepts are intregrally entwined and easily confused. People use the word "destiny" loosely to boost hopefulness and inspire fate to action ("I am your density!" - George McFly) but it takes on a more sombre meaning when the word is abstracted onto "something" beyond our control directing us to a particular outcome. There is an intelligence that directs our destiny but we don't have to look elsewhere to find it; we don't have to abstract it onto objective events or imaginary forces. Like fate, destiny has a degree of inevitability in that people seem drawn to fulfill their destinies, but unlike fate, it is the individual who will determine just how inevitable destiny is by their participation in events leading to the outcome.
_____________________
The only rules that really matter are these: What a man can do, and what a man can't do. - Captain Jack Sparrow
I missed the bus this morning. Not an unusual thing, but it got me thinking about fate and destiny. I reached the street corner and saw the bus go by just as the light turned red, preventing me from crossing the street. It wasn't important for me to get to work on time, I could afford to be late. So when I reached the street corner and missed the light, it occurred to me that it was "not meant to be" that I catch that particular bus at this particular time.
This may sound a bit, well, fatalistic, and that's exactly what it is: it is a bowing to fate, to the circumstances of bad timing. There was an acknowledgement of circumstances that were beyond my control, but in the same thought an acknowledgement that there were things I could have done to alter the outcome of the morning: I could have exerted myself and crossed the street illegally, waved to the bus driver and perhaps he would have stopped. I could have walked faster to reach the corner instead of enjoying the morning, and perhaps have caught the light while it was green. I could have left home a few minutes earlier instead of taking time to clean out the kitty litter. In other words, if I had done things differently I might have caught that bus but I didn't, and it was no surprise that I would be late to work. I participated in the morning's events with deliberation and with full awareness of the possible outcome.
An online survey I did recently confirmed that most people ignore, dismiss or deny the notions of fate and destiny because they are taught the words mean that they are not in control of their own choices or circumstances, yet they know that they are in control. If a person believes in the monotheistic God they may recognize fate as predestination and rationalize that God gave them free will, so that ends that. If the person doesn't believe in God, they may lump it in with speculative fancy and say, "I am in control of my life" and be done with it. If they believe fate is a force, it falls outside the realm of natural universal forces that act on us, and if they believe the source is some sort of supernatural intelligence then it falls in the category of superstition. Some just don't think about it at all.
Yet despite all this, some people do recognize fate and acknowledge it in their lives. They know it when they see it; there is that moment of understanding that they are participating in something greater than the sum of the parts. And most people assert a belief in "creating one's own destiny," shaping it by exercising free will and the power of choice. Well, there is good news for those who would like to reconcile the apparent discrepancy betweem these uses of the words and their dictionary definitions. The usage of "fate" as something we participate in and a "destiny" shaped by our free will harken back to a time when the concepts were not immutable-- some two and a half to three thousand years ago-- when fate and free will were not mutually exclusive.
Although now-a-days the words are used interchangeably, fate and destiny are distinguishable things. Modern usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events, and adds an aura of doom and gloom. The definition of fate has it that if events are ordered or "meant to be" that they are put in order by a force or intelligence beyond us, acting upon us, usually for the worst ("the jury determined his fate"). Fate is used in reference to the finality of events as they have worked themselves out, and that same finality is projected to the inevitability of events as they will work themselves out in the future. Fate also has a morbid association with finality in the form of "fatality".
Destiny has none of the negative connotations of fate. Whereas fate is personified in dark, frightening forms like the three Fates of Greek mythology, destiny is radiant and beautiful, full of hope, inspiring awe. Whereas the fate of peoples, nations, worlds and even the universe can be widely discussed, when the word "destiny" is properly invoked it is in relation to the course of a life. Destiny usually applies to something more significant than everyday matters (like missing a bus) but the idea can inform all aspects of our lives. Used in the present tense destiny or fate refers to the course of someone's life in the future ("her destiny is to be leader", "his fate is decided; he will be executed"). Destiny or fate used in the past tense is "one's lot" and includes the sum of events leading up to a currently achieved outcome ("it was her destiny to be leader", "it was his fate to be executed"). Do you see the difference between fate and destiny in these examples? Fate is an outcome determined by an outside agency acting upon an individual, but with destiny the individual is participating in achieving an outcome that is directly related to himself or herself.
Destiny has the same root as "destination": destine, to direct something towards a given end ("she is destined to be leader"). Without an individual's willful participation, there is no destining. Destiny cannot be forced on someone; if they are forced into circumstances then that is their fate. There was a scene in the movie Whale Rider when the whales had beached and Paikea walked up to the big one and gently kissed it. She had reached a state of consciousness where the messages she had absorbed from the mythologies that she had heard all of her life (memorized, sang and enacted in dance on stage) moved from her subconscious mind into conscious awareness, where she was informed by the myth of the Whale Rider. Up until then there was doubt in the audience's mind that she would be leader; circumstances looked dim. But in that moment she knew that she was leader, and she knew her destiny. Events, as they played out, had guided her to this place and this time. She did what she did next with full awareness-- it was what the leader must do; it was what the first Whale Rider had done. She embraced her destiny to be leader the moment she real-ized it (made it real). Plus she saved a bunch whales, which was cool.
Why did the whales beach? Did they do it for her benefit? because she called them? That is fate, the objective events: the opportunities and the limitations placed before us; the circumstances we are bound to that are beyond our control, and sometimes even beyond our meger understanding as to how they happened, but are a part of our destiny in that they shape us. Fate is the backdrop on which destiny plays out. Why did she ride the whale and become leader? That is her destiny, what she determined will be by directly participating in what was happening. She directed circumstances towards a certain outcome, and in doing so determined future circumstances. By particpating in our destiny, we shape fate.
Is it any wonder the words are interchanged these days? The concepts are intregrally entwined and easily confused. People use the word "destiny" loosely to boost hopefulness and inspire fate to action ("I am your density!" - George McFly) but it takes on a more sombre meaning when the word is abstracted onto "something" beyond our control directing us to a particular outcome. There is an intelligence that directs our destiny but we don't have to look elsewhere to find it; we don't have to abstract it onto objective events or imaginary forces. Like fate, destiny has a degree of inevitability in that people seem drawn to fulfill their destinies, but unlike fate, it is the individual who will determine just how inevitable destiny is by their participation in events leading to the outcome.