Wednesday, March 30, 2005

DON'T PANIC

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Movie

As I approach the end of my thesis, and indeed, the end of my senior carrer, which necessitates my entry into the "real world," it's always nice to have the thought of the Hitchhiker's Guide in my mind. I can picture the warm comforting words "Don't Panic" in my mind and it's a rather soothing experience. This is one of the ways in which Douglas Adams has been a huge inspiriation in my life. When asked who their biggest inspiration is I know plenty of people who would say the likes of Lance Armstrong, Dan Gable (wrestler), or Albert Einstein. Now, outside of the people who I know personally that have inspired me (my family, coaches, Joanna, Parker, Emily, etc.) or religious figures, the greatest individual inspiration in my life has certainly been Douglas Adams. He may even outrank some of those in the previous lists depending on the day.

Now, it's not anything he really did, plenty of people have written many more succesful titles than he did, it's more the philosophy of going through life that he had. His influence has never really been a concious "I want to be like Mike" sort of thing, his influence has come though his books. I don't want to be like him, I don't want to be a writer, that's certainly not my destiny. But, I like the way he thinks, the way he approaches subjects with a smug irreverance. I also love the way that in his world unrelated things can become related through the one of the most wonderful concepts in the world, randomness. Now, whether my random nature is a result of having read this book or if the book merely reinforced it, I don't think I'll ever now. I read it at such a young age (and so many times) that its hard to distinguish cause and effect. All I can say is that there is certainly a correlation between my love of all things random and my love of that book.

A recent fact I discovered that has resulted in my even greater appreciation of Mr. Adams is that he claims that the intiial idea for "Hitchhiker's" came to hime while lying drunk in a field holding a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe. Kindred spirit indeed.

Values that I believe I gained from the works of Douglas Adam include, not taking things seriously....ever, the idea that nothing is too sacred for mockery, knowing that in the end, things will work out for the best, and learning to not panic. In a way I'm not sure if I would have survived this school had I never read that book. I feel like I would have had some sort of breakdown from all the stress that gets heaped upon us here. But when things get too troublesome, I just remember those large friendly words that say:

DON'T PANIC

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The rules are simple. Take your work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out." ~Chuck Jones

Anonymous said...

"The rules are simple. Take your work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out." ~Chuck Jones

Anonymous said...

"The rules are simple. Take your work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out." ~Chuck Jones

Anonymous said...

Damn Blogger.

Anonymous said...

DAMN BLOGGER!!!

Jack said...

wow, you must really like that quote