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Kamloops News

PARKER: Standing alone with a stake for reality

Image Credit: Compilation/Jennifer Stahn
August 05, 2014 - 7:13 AM

My alter ego’s name is Sarah Hunter and she has huge knockers and blonde hair, but she’s not a bimbo.

She currently lives in Alabama, on the run from her ex-husband who also happens to be a werewolf, but she doesn’t know this yet. All Sarah knows is that the county sheriff is a babe — and he is totally looking out for her.

If this sounds like the plot of a Harlequin novel to you, that’s because it sort of is. When my creativity goes to pieces and I find myself uninspired, I retreat to a collection of 35,000 words I have written in times exactly like that one. Words that are steamy yet classy, enticing yet not overwhelming, far fetched yet not impossible — OK, I guess that last one depends on how you feel about the supernatural.

Something about writing something so absolutely tacky brings my creative senses back to life. Not to mention, it’s totally enjoyable to retreat into a world that I have complete and utter control over. The werewolves kind of came out of left field.

For as long as I can remember I have been obsessed with the idea that there is something else out there. Granted, I’m a Christian, and this comes with the whole package — but I don’t mean something else in the sense of a love-like force-field that may or may not be encompassing us at all times. I mean some serious voodoo shit.

And I blame Buffy.

I mean, yeah, that’s taking it back to the old school, but I can remember raiding my dad’s lumber pile for wooden stakes to take along with me on my morning paper routes back in the late ‘90s — imagination has never been an issue for me.

What I find interesting, though, is this surge of popularity creatures of legend are experiencing these days. We have The Walking Dead (zombies), Twilight (vampires and werewolves), True Blood (voodoo shit) and Vampire Diaries (high school vamps), not to mention all these superheroes who have made the leap from nerd-dom to the cool kids.

My question is this: When did plain old human ability become not enough for us? I mean, we’re pretty awesome at thinking and fending for ourselves and whatnot.

I’m not saying I want to do away with it all — where would Sarah Hunter be without her werewolf slayer/sheriff? Lonely, that’s where. But, I’m very curious why we are feeling the need to immerse ourselves in a world so utterly disjointed from “reality.”

Has it become too real for us? Do we need an escape to be that far away from what we’re experiencing during the day? Is it simply that we’re overly bored with all our human prospects and need a little excitement? Have freaks and geeks become the new mean girls? Why am I still dreaming about Edward Cullen?!

Today, new-age spirituality has become more mainstream than it has in the past. So have old religions — and when dealing with the supernatural, who can forget the pagans? The common ground between these things lies in the power within and the power surrounding.

We the individual have the opportunity to summon strength in our weakest moments. We have the ability to survive off of the land, despite the mechanical production surrounding us. We can do amazing things with holistic medicine, we can create epic change through positive (or negative) affirmations alone. We can do all of this without the help of the technological society we live in.

Perhaps it’s not about centuries-old warlocks and zombies, it’s about the outlaws and our need to know we still have the ability to stand alone. The days of the Wild West are gone, but we need Billy the Kid more than ever.

The success of Harry Potter taught us that.

— Andria is a twenty-something blogger living in Kamloops with her 100 pairs of heels and 200 paperback Penguin Classics.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014
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