Stories as Identities: Who Are We Without Them?
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2020
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Why are stories so purposefully structured whereas our reality is so often messy and chaotic? Why do characters have clear transformative arcs when our identities and personal journeys are so much more complex than that? It's questions like these, and their implications that will be explored in this new series on stories vs. reality.
In this third and final episode, I examine the way we naturally experience the world, and where the sense of adventure comes from. I will the revisit the fundamental difference between stories and reality to explore how our experience clashes with the rules of storytelling, which leads into some deeper metaphysical questions on the nature of the universe as I will examine the possibility, and consequences of the existence of a grand cosmic story. Lastly, I will present a hopefully grounded conclusion to all this, one that doesn't necessarily resolve the conflicts we've discussed, but one that at least gives us a better way to deal with them.
Episode 1: The Fundamental Difference Between Stories and Reality: • The Fundamental Differ...
Episode 2: Your Life Is Not A Hero’s Journey: • Your Life is Not a Her...
Sources:
Simon Gusman & Arjen Kleinherenbrink - Avonturen Bestaan Niet: www.boomfilosofie.nl/product/...
Joseph Campbell - The Hero With A Thousand Faces: amzn.to/2WcOhl1
Jean-Paul Sartre - Nausea: amzn.to/2XeFZKM
Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus: amzn.to/2Be84tm
Like Stories of Old - Complete Reading List: kit.co/likestoriesofold/readi...
Business inquiries: lsoo@standard.tv
Music:
Lights & Motion - Requiem
Dexter Britain - No End Of Possibilities
Dexter Britain - Sleep Walker
Jude Cosmo - Lunar Echo
David Harwell - When The Time Comes You Won't Be Alone
Dexter Britain - Raising
Music licensed from Musicbed, start your 30 day free trial at: share.mscbd.fm/likestoriesofold
A big thanks to everyone who supported me in the creation of this series! If you want to contribute as well and help me make more videos, please check out my Patreon page at: www.patreon.com/LikeStoriesofOld Thanks!
I really love your videos, but is there any way I can see the movies that belong to the clips you use? Some of them look really good, and I would like to watch them
Who am I without you?
I am the same.
If Satan is real, then the nature of storytelling changes.
Incredible series! Thank you! I've shared the series with several friends.
Ironically enough this three part series of yours has the structure of a heroes journey... good series.
How do you do it?? This must be an enormous amount of work to first learn this, then think it all through, create a 90 minute very very thoughtful script(!!) and then edit it with tons of footage and feeling. Deep respect and admiration!
I would also like to know the answer :)
Answer this please
Perfect, how do you do it? Great great work!!
Maybe there are a bunch of talented writers and content creators, including himself... and he is the main narrator at the same time... haha
I think he is a AI , that coded by human for doing to clear some questions that we don't answer from movie, art , game or anything else.
This is one of those series were I am going to have think on your themes and arguments for a bit.
I went into this video thinking cool something to watch on a Sunday afternoon. I came out knowing I just witnessed something profound.
I say this a someone who as been on what other people would say are adventures. I enlisted in the U.S Marines back in 2006. During my time in the Marines I got to meet people I would never, eat street food in far countries, and even go to war. I was part of the sruge in Afghanistan in 2009. Even after I got of of the Marines I experience things that would be considered adventures such floods, grass fires, more travel: I went to Antarctica in 2017 and on top of all that I lived out the daily struggle of being a human.
One thing I have learned is that many of those things which are adventures are miserable in the experience but meaningful in the retelling. Which comes to think of it is one the reason we tell stories. To give the pain and hardship meaning.
Thank you for the thought provoking series.
Thanks for sharing Michael, that was beautiful, and I definitely agree with what you said there at the end!
Wow! The part where you said ‘Many of those things which are adventures are miserable in the experience but meaningful in the retelling’ is so profound and poetic. It’s exactly these kind of thoughts where some of the characters in my stories explore. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, for sharing all your experiences and lessons condensed into just a few profound lines. Indeed, storytelling is at our core. Some stories we tell the others and some stories to ourselves. These stories give us a reason and meaning to this otherwise chaotic reality.
Thankyou so much for that michael, beautiful words there mate
@@LikeStoriesofOld Have you considered doing a podcast?
had me bawling seconds before the 'living to the point of tears' line. beautifully pondered and wonderfully timed as always.
Always loved Camus, ever since I read him in high school. I definitely find myself most in line with existentialism as a philosophy. Many people confuse it with nihilism but I find it ultimately hopeful, if not as satisfying as the typical monotheistic religion. Its not an easy philosophy to align with, imo.
I’m speechless. I’ve never heard or watched someone so brilliantly put a bow on everything it means to be human.
You took 2000 years of philosophy and human struggle in finding itself, and put it into 27 minutes that any not self aware zoomer can understand. Kudos to you my friend, you are a genius.
I really enjoyed the series and I’m sad it’s over, but you really said all that can be said regarding what is humanity.
Yep. It's a Magnum Opus of Romantic Humanism.
"Live to the point of tears" - Albert Camus
Text?
Is this from The Stranger?
♥️
😏64th comment😎
#teamrabbithole
"Albert Camus argued that life is inherently absurd, as we’ve seen is full of conflicts, limitations and contradictions. But there’s also a freedom, or at least, a feeling of freedom within us. Although it is not the kind of freedom that allows us to transcend the absurdity of existence, it is one that allows us to shape our experience of it. It is the part of us that realizes we will never truly understand our cosmic purpose, that accepts it is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. But it is also the parte that then sees a sunset, or a smile, a tiny glimpse of something beautiful, and feels that it is not. It is however not a matter of rationality or logic, it’s something deeper, perhaps that’s the bliss Joseph Campbell was talking about It is the part of us that doesn’t jus want to exist, it wants us to live. It is the part that tells us that if I have to create my own meaning, I’m gonna create as much of it as I can. If I have to tell my own story, I’m going to fill it with beauty. It is the part of us that wants to savor every moment, be it exciting and adventurous, or quiete and mundane. That wants to experience life, all of it, with passion, with intensity. The part that wants us, as Camus put it, to live to the point of tears."
I really needed this today. Thank you.
Where did this deep sense of freedom came from? And why should we stop there?
thanks for this excerpt.
Yours is the best channel to just listen to . It's like talking to someone . Idk how to explain it... but you are like the friend I have always wanted.
Wow thanks for the heart dude
There is clear wisdom in what you're saying Dr LSOO, you know and treasure story more than anyone, but you are also gifted with a voice that is both fragile and incredibly powerful simultaneously. A rare gift that you are using to the fullest for those of us lucky to have stumbled upon this channel.
@@L.iamCarroll ikr....how lucky we came across him
So so lucky 😭
There are dogs of love,
nobody knows.
I would give my live,
to be,
one of them.
~ Rumi
I'm a young filmmaker who is going through a writer's block. Watching your videos remind me why I tell stories and why do I feel this need to tell stories. Well done! and thank you for your beautiful craft
pelikulektura I’m an author going through writers block. LSOO always inspires me, reminds me of why I want to be a storyteller. Just the same as you. What would society be without storytellers? Creatives play a vital role in society. When I am overwhelmed with my mental illness, too depressed to write, I remember this and I watch these videos and I feel like I can push through, use my experiences, and affect someone else’s life. Then I’m also reminded by comments like yours that I’m not alone, that others are striving to do this as well, and I’m part of a community of creatives. So I wish you luck in your own storytelling journey! xx
Westworld's Dr. Robert Ford:
"Since I was a child... I always loved a good story. I believed that stories helped us to ennoble ourselves, to fix what was broken in us, and to help us become the people we dreamed of being. Lies that told a deeper truth."
love to ford
Lies that tell a deeper truth
It's just ended, and I'm near tears.
Your calm, quiet voice & those amazing chosen images together ... wow. Just wow.
You must have worked on this one for months just to find the right images in the right movies.
But most of all, the whole arc of the series is what brought me to comment here. It is a really inspired and profound use of UA-cam. Thank you.
I am in tears ....
I totally agree! I have wept throughout this series. I have found wonderful seeds for further reading as well. A beautifully constructed series of well polished thoughts and coherent ideas.
oof! i was crying after just a couple minutes!
@@dogwalk3 lol wut
We all look for minute climaxes across our lives. Books. Movies. Songs. Parties. Travels. Kisses. Even videos like this one. There is a sort of optimistic nihilism to this that I really am thankful for.
This series of 'stories vs reality' put me in a self discovery path that changed my life
& what's that ??
@@milanyadav2776 i did not undestand the question. what was the self discovery, you ask?
@@professorrafaelrodrigues219 I mean how it changed your life . & What's your perspective now on life ?
@@milanyadav2776 i realised that "meaning" is a lie.
I always loved to play videogames. they are the media, to me, that offers the most immerse experiences of storytelling. i felt that i would "become", merge myself with every protagonist in their own journey and i would envy the sense of purpose, i envied the existence of meaning on their histories. so i searched for that my entire life. i wanted a meaning to exist for, a well structured end line to thrive to get.
i knew i would never find it, but that did not stopped me for wanting it. until i wacthed these videos, and read The Hero of One Thousand Faces. to undestand the very nature of what we comprehend as histories, they meaning, the way they are structered, the way they act in our subconscious, was groundbreaking.
several instances of human existence "fabricate" our need for meaning and purpuse. histories with caracter's arc's and a climax wore almost made out of a recipe book. all the structure of narrative predetermined.
it was like realising that the amazing, but expensive toy you could never get, only admire in the shop window, was not actually amazing, just expensive.
Today i take SO MUCH more pleasure in small things of day-a-day life, the lack of a greater prupurse is confortable to me, its what makes human experience so diverse.
it changed my life because i dont feel anymore that there is something lacking, something that i am missing. life is good as it is.
“We thought of life by analogy with a journey, a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end, and the thing was to get to that end, success or whatever it is, maybe heaven after you’re dead. But we missed the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played.” ― Alan Watts
God that's such a good quote
time stamps if need be
2:40 Experiencing the Adventure
8:01 Perpetually Unfolding Stories
14:02 Cosmic Salvation
17:52 Freedom
I may not be awake for it when it airs over here in Australia, but my god will I be watching it as soon as I can
uɐɔ I sɐ uoos sɐ ʇᴉ ƃuᴉɥɔʇɐʍ ǝq I llᴉʍ poƃ ʎɯ ʇnq 'ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ uᴉ ǝɹǝɥ ɹǝʌo sɹᴉɐ ʇᴉ uǝɥʍ ʇᴉ ɹoɟ ǝʞɐʍɐ ǝq ʇou ʎɐɯ I
@@bpancevski My neck does not appreciate this.
@@rayromcas *laughs in Smartphone
@@bpancevski My dude you just made my day hahaha I just watched the vid and your comment added to something I won't forget :P Cheers from Aus haha!
When I was younger I used to think that our life was lived in a linear way -a straight line. Beginning, middle, end.
But the reality is that we live in circles. Highs and lows, lots of u-turns, reverse, sideways. Anything BUT a straight line. Stop waiting for a happily ever after. There is only the Present and you decide what to do with it.
Sir... you had me in tears. This is so beautiful. An astonishing breakdown, of a world we all have come to know. Thank you for sharing this. I have enjoyed every single one of your videos. Take my friend ❤️👍
This will probably be the first UA-cam premiere I've ever watched, really looking forward to it!
Same
And I never thought myself waiting for one too
Oh, boy. This is something. The other two videos were phenomenal on displaying reality and have helped me understand where I stand in my life.
I really need to this final video: the conclusion. I will make it my ideology in life.
Stay flexible. That’s the conclusion.
I'm at a bit of a loss to react to this final video in the series. LSOO makes a compelling case across the 3 videos for a sharp distinction between reality versus story. And then abruptly abandons this in the final 5 minutes to move toward a stirring emotional finale where **twist** we CAN find meaning in stories when we start becoming our own story teller.
There is a certain beauty in the existentialist move to make our own personal meaning in defiance of the absurdity of existence. But I think this beauty relies on a modern myth of the individual as this sovereign separate thing from the rest of the universe. In accepting this, we also accept a trap whereby the meaning we discover will only be relevant within the claustrophobic conditions of the human skull we call our own. Perhaps there is something courageous about this, but I tend to think it has more of a bent towards insanity or megalomania, than the courage presented to us in the hero's journey.
We are profoundly social creatures. Meaning on an individual scale is no meaning at all. We hunger deeply for community, and for our personal story to be embedded in a larger story. That's why such a seemingly simple structure of the hero's journey is so stable across so many different cultures and such great lengths of time. Rather than being distinct from reality, the stories that survive on these timescales actually reflect reality in deep ways. This is a reality that is embedded deep into our biology, and it seems to be one the most basic elements of what is special about the species human that has taken such a sharp deviation from our evolutionary ancestors.
The hero's journey points us toward the very hard to hear truth that meaning is never to be found absent personal sacrifice. And that is always the way in which our story makes its impact on the larger story, which I would submit is what we all really want in our own search for meaning.
That was very well put. You helped me understand my own reaction.
Thank you.
I see the cosmic monomyth underlying reality and heroic personal sacrifice that reflects the best of humanity as coming together in Jesus of Nazareth. The 'author of our salvation'...
@@IMESONIO Thanks for sharing that. I stumbled across David Foster Wallace's famous commencement speech "This is Water" today which I've seen many times before. He's one of my favorite authors, and I've really struggled to understand his work and his life, even though I find something so compelling in them. I think what he's describing is specifically related to this problem of whether meaning really exists or not. Here's a link to it if you're interested ua-cam.com/video/8CrOL-ydFMI/v-deo.html
We give the meaning to life and i agree... This is a, collective experience... That gives sense to life
LSOO’s embrace of Sartre and Camus is an unfortunate departure from his earlier work. Don’t get me wrong: I love this channel. But you’re exactly right that our search for meaning is rooted in our human nature and moreover a deeply social venture, not a mere spawn of each individual mind. Your comment was spot on.
@@markvandenberg4606 I don’t think existentialism and social bonds are incompatible. As an individual, yes, you create your own meaning, but as social creatures, that meaning definitely derives from your place within society and the social bonds and relationships you cultivate. I don’t think existentialism has to be a hyperindividualist vision
Video hasn’t premiered yet and you already have 77 likes and 0 dislikes. Make that 78.
195
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
~William Blake (mystic & poet)
Speechless. I loved it. Shall we all live with a freedom of soul, free of scripted behaviors, free to make of our lives the best they can be. As Walter White puts it, “I did it for me, I was good at it, I liked it”
It's so rare to find sincerity on the internet, but here it overflows.
One year later, and i still cry like a baby everytime i finish this series, you are great man, thank you.
I've always hated the conventions of storytelling because of The Hero's Journey Structure, but after watching this trilogy, it put me on a state of realisation that even I am confound to my realistic individuality relying upon these very stories. It has put me in some self denial that Stories will always be just Stories and Reality will always be Reality.I believed that the line that separates this will always be essential in order to to remain sane in an absurd world. But connecting these two, I believe is what makes us human and a free one. It may be frustrating to not fully understand what it is that can define such but we can always just live it. It's not a form of escapism but a form of acceptance. A free thought.
Thank you LSOO, kinda felt like you had your frustrations in your life too. Really appreciate that you can share your own stories too even without mentioning it.
One time when I was anxious I started searching for memories where I was calm, so I could remember how to land in a feeling or emotion.
Turns out that when I'm happy and calm I don't settle in emotions or feelings - They flow with me.
Sobbing. Best channel on UA-cam.
Storytelling, to the point of tears. Thank you LSOO, your channel may not be a mothership, but it is definitely a lighthouse, to which to sail in times of storm and from which to enjoy the beauty of the horizon in times of calm
I'm preparing for a dungeons and dragons campaign as a player and returned to this series on the hero's journey for a little bit of inspiration. Its hard because I want to inject some realism into our story but we're inevitably living out the lives of adventurers who are actually at the center of the story, where things happen to them and around them, where they are supposed to live extraordinary lives as uniquely capable beings. Thanks for this, long time follower here.
I am a grown ass man with grown ass kids crying ugly tears in the back half of this. Your work is always special. Your tone exceptional. The images insightful. This one is just damn perfect. Thank you. I wish I could frame this and put it on my wall. I wish every young adult had to view this t graduate to adulthood.
You put it perfectly into words what it means to be human. This is my new bible - not to dictate what I should do, but to open up the possibilities that we as humans do truly have. You opened up a new world to me, and truly, deeply, I thank you for that.
following your channel throughout the years has seen me growing with the content of your videos
thank you for all the inspiration and knowledge you have provided for free
i will never stop appreciating it
This is absolutely one of THE BEST multi-part videos I have EVER seen. An absolute piece of art, that's inspired me to write my next film.
It's also made me understand my depression and anxiety about how I live my life a bit better...
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Yes this is a lovely representation of what I tell people all the time: our Heroic Journey is about unlocking ourselves from social conventions. Finding out who we are. Figuring out what we’re good and what we’re going to contribute to society and the world. In doing those things, however mundane, we give meaning to our lives, free ourselves to be who we are, and with every day, add a new adventure to our story... Thank you for another wonderful video!!
Every. Time. Stop making me tear up. Your videos are like liquid distilled bliss filtered straight into my brain. They make me feel so good, and inspire me. Thank you.
As a filmmaker, your channel has inspired me so much and given my storytelling a sense of purpose beyond simply entertaining. A truly beautiful series. Thank you for the inspiration.
“I am a man, and men are animals who tell stories. This is a gift from God, who spoke our species into being, but left the end of our story untold. That mystery is troubling to us. How could it be otherwise? Without the final part, we think, how are we to make sense of all that went before: which is to say, our lives?So we make stories of our own, in fevered and envious imitation of our Maker, hoping that we'll tell, by chance, what God left untold. And finishing our tale, come to understand why we were born.” ― Clive Barker, Sacrament.
Great as usual. Thanx!!!!
How is it possible that this wonderful video cuts to a scene from Portrait of a Lady on Fire near the end and I instantly get teary eyed just like I did the first time I watched that film. Damn. What a movie. Apart from that detail, I'll have to rewatch this a number of times to fully grasp this. Thank you.
There are many who make film essays here. Some good some not. But only you bring me to tears nearly every time. You are a magnificent person and I thank you for your work in this world.
To be frank. I'm downloading these amazing episodes convert it into audio format and listen while I sleep. Like it's like a my grandmother tells me stories I feel in that way. Very very beautiful one. Keep posting.
There are very few videos that I saved permanently to watch again and again. This is easily one of them now.
I’ve found dramas about a single life or interconnected lives to be the best examples of making your own small life an adventure. _Mr. Holland’s Opus, Little Women, Downton Abbey,_ films and shows like those.
There’s no literal magic or grand adventure going on… just lives being lived. And that is adventure enough to rivet us.
I love watching those relatively simple dramas because they remind me that I’m very young still (22), that my life is a confusing adventure right now, but that just like in those movies, when I’ve struggled and laughed and cried and loved my way to my life‘s conclusion, every piece of it will be part of the adventure.
The greatest search of my life is peace, not happiness, and one of the most deeply touching ways I find peace in each present moment is in stories.
I wrote my masters' thesis on worldbuilding in epic fantasy and touched upon a lot of the themes you talk about in this series. You put across your points masterfully, and this has been one of my favourite UA-cam experiences. Thank you!
To me this series is about getting rid of another ilusion in which we are living. Knowing that what you think about yourself, your goals and desires might be just imposed on you by culture you live in - books, movies, ads.
How can you be sure if what you want from life is your internal desire? A desire that flourished only becuase you heard about it or viewed it somewhere. I believe that most of them are desires created by someone else, but the ilusion is that we actualy think they are our owns. "Freedom to be" means to realize this once for all. This freedom, however, might cause you pain.
LSOO - thank you for this series.
Bravo LSOO, sometimes i forget to question who i was, who i am or who will i be. Not giving weight to my own experiences as each frame of life becomes stored and collect dust in the bleak maze of memory. i continually catch myself in hypnosis, forgetting about thoughts of what i can overcome or of growth, by being drowned in the pragmatic process of each day. Thank you for reminding me of my own journey, of my emotions and sense of I. I must continue and catch more glimpses of beauty, listen with my heart open, take deeper breaths, hold my head a little higher or what have you. This glimpse into my own self with intensity and emotions will fade as must all things but this has given some light towards a seed that i wish to grow. Thank you for giving me that.
Bravo LSOO.
I see lesson as being comfortable with the gray. Life as you stated can be complicated, and confusing, and sometimes you won’t find meaning in your goals, so the best we can do is to take it day by day, and embrace the moment.
Every single time I watch your videos, at some point I always need a tissue... Thank you for such deep, thorough, beautiful, and thoughtful work. This is some special stuff that you do. Even if you never made another, what's here is such a gift!
“To my big brother George...”. That scene gets me every single time. Every. Single. Time.
Storytelling is therapy for my soul
Here we are the ones that believe. The optimism of the will. this is food for the soul. Thank you all.
You always do such a great job with bringing closure (even if it's open ended) with your ideas! Can't wait to see it! I've been hyped since the last video!
A wonderful antidote to the prevailing mood of identity politics that emphasizes who you are rather what you can do and be the author of your own story.
Magnificent. I hope this comment isn’t too late to be read. I want to share some things that I really appreciated in this.
I appreciate your integration of both tradition and modernity. Your “deconstruction” of the Hero’s Journey isn’t a destructive one, but you make the effort to rebuild that story, only with us as the architects, but without dismissing of the brilliant blueprints before us, as so many do.
I also appreciate your respect for religious tradition in this, even if that isn’t exactly where you reach your conclusion. You even make it clear, in just about the only time I’ve heard you use the word “I” that the ending is *your* solution, not a one-size-fits-all one. You deconstruct the Monomyth, but still see that there is something about it that serves as a foundation of human reality.
As an aspiring storyteller who leans toward the religious side of things, I think there is a way to integrate the traditional religious approach with existential philosophy. Take the Abrahamic idea of being made in the Image of God; I understand it as saying that we also are made to be authors. Philosophy, religion... it should all affirm life.
Thank you for this beautiful series.
Dude...If you can't see it for yourself; in my eyes you are right in the middle of your hero's journey as you create the greatest projects on youtube and make us all engage in life in a more purposeful way. God bless you.
Stories are the rewards of real life experiences with perspectives. Making sense out of what might have been or not have been sensible in it self.
Each time I come back to this, it remains truely uplifting
Why this channel's videos make me cry i cannot get my head around but its not a bad thing or a sad thing? *It just is?
Brilliant!! Bravo!! This was and is absolutely wonderful!!
Thank you!
This 3 part series left me in tears. You're truly unmatched in quality and content. Already a fan and supporter.
this has moved me so much, that i feel compelled to write my first ever YT comment. incredibly, beuatiful, poetic and meeningful. one of the lovliest and heartfelt channels. thank you very much. i just wish more, millions more, people would watch this.
There was in me a tearful cry of joy, I am grateful to you for raising my consciousness of my inner world.
Wow. You are just something else, my friend. I've lost count now, of how many of your videos I've watched... Something approaching a dozen perhaps. So much of what you are drawn to, and what you think and have to say about all of it resonates in perfect harmony with my own psyche, and with everything that I have learned on my journeys through life that mattered most to me. I feel deeply touched, and affirmed, every time I listen to you. And I see you have this same effect on so many here... Like an old soul who has seen many journeys -- like a wise alchemist of the human psyche -- you really seem to be in touch with the heart of the archetypical... and able to translate the symbolic language found there into one that is perfectly in tune with the times, and the way we are all interconnected within it. It's an astonishing delight to run into someone like you. I feel very lucky to have done so. Looking forward to many more hours of inspiring contemplation, courtesy of your generous storytelling...
I may have shed a tear or two. Thank you. Thank you.
You've been helping me a lot
worded my feelings, discussed what i didn't know what exactly i was feeling- you're a place where i can rest my back, a place where my questions reach, a place i can call home
Dude, bless your soul.
Longtime fan here and I have looked forward to every single video you put out.
Just need you to know that you've helped make my life meaningful. You've really enriched my life from where you are. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I just revisited this video and I teared up. It’s fascinating to see how films all the way from ‘Lord of the Rings’ to ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ hit these deep, profound beats within our “collective subconscious,” as you’ve put it. I feel like we as humans just want to feel that destiny within us, and want to know that what we’re doing is…blessed? Worthy? Impactful? I don’t know what word to use, but I guess that we just want to know that what we’re doing is meaningful. It’s just a profound, wonderful thing to think about. (This made no sense, but it felt good to write.)
I‘m in tears of joy and hope. This work is a masterpiece! I can feel your heart and soul in every minute. I‘m so thankful for your videos! May you be blessed by infinite light and Love! Peace! ❤️
These videos were well spoken. They were well read, they were passionate, and honest. Thank you for showing us your creativity and giving us inspiration for our own creations. And thank you again
when we see a story unfolds, we have some feelings , understandings, realisations that we cant express in words not even to ourselves let alone others , watching this triology felt like something we knew all of this all along , felt like something we were born with and has been with us since the beginning of time , but it is not until you put all of these into words that our minds said she knew all of this but merely overlooked .
a million thanks from your biggest fan. Namaste 🙏
Man...you did it again. Once more I’m brought to tears.
Thank you for your thoughtful and patient way of narration. The big themes that you focus on can be difficult for some to digest, but the narrative tone you carry in your videos are inspired. IMHO
I’ve had triumphs and disaster in my life. And more than once have I had to “stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools”. Quoted from “If”, by Rudyard Kipling.
There are so many of us that are quietly heroic. Thanks for pointing it out.
Wonderful video essay.
How thankful I am that we are blessed with such beautiful work. This series has truly been moving. Thank you for what you do.
Okay, so you made me cry again. Good tears. The freedom you mentioned at the end is exactly what I wish for most in my own story. The freedom to be myself and to be okay with that. Thanks very, very much for your healing and thoughtful take on a deeply intertwined part of human expression. Thanks for carefully putting it into kind, wise words and exquisite video editing. Thank you for your passion and commitment in what must sometimes be a boring and frustrating process. In the wise words of my favorite meme, “you’re doing amazing sweetie”.
I love how we can find gold content for our life in unexpected moments. I just started to explore your channel, but I can definitely say how much I already love the content you are putting out here. Thank you.
24:02 -"If we let go of all the ideas of who we should be, and instead focus on who we can be, who we want to be, it can truly be a wonderful life"
Boy, you know how to articulate your thoughts so beautifully. This 3 part series genuinely brought me to tears especially that whole last section about "Freedom". I really can't put in words that how thankful I am to you, for doing this.
Thanks a lot! ♥️ (26/06/20)
This one was your magnum opus of video essays. I'm in tears, truly beautiful video. Thank you so much.
I'm signing up to Patreon just to support you
WOW!! That was amazing and brought me to tears! I truly love your insight.
“Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgments.”
― Zephram Cochrane
Many are saying what I agree with wholeheartedly; you accomplished something powerfully, beautifully meaningful with this video and its two predecessors. I feel like it is a landmark achievement in philosophy itself. The hero’s journey is ratified by this essay trilogy, but deeper still, it is proven in the lives of all who live “to the point of tears”, as this did for me and many others. My sincerest gratitude. ❤️
You may never see this comment because of all the others but, this series was so well done! I've watched it many times and will watch it many more because it's so dense with relevant information. Thank you for making this. I look forward to more content from you
What a brilliant conclusion to this series. Thank you for the insight, the editing, and the music. Awesome job
Beautiful work, LSOO. I've struggled so much with forging meaning out of all I've experienced that at times, it took away from actually living. It was a sort of depression that I'm thankfully overcoming, and honestly, I look forward to embracing new things, without feeling so held back by the notions of "a hero's journey".
I think every life in which one is open to experience and is not afraid to show kindness, humility, courage, forgiveness, and compassion, is full of both the heroic and the mundane. And that's okay. 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well'.
I have watched all the videos in your channel, and I watched them in order, taking me about six months. This trilogy is your best work. Thank you.
Wow. Thank you for the work you put into this, Tom. I'm wiping heavy tears from my eyes. Brilliant choices in visuals to complement your script, like you plucked them from my mind. It seems this was just the thing I needed at this point - just what the world needed, perhaps.
Yeees!!!! Been looking so much forward to this 😄 your content is by far the best I’ve seen on UA-cam!
I would like to thank you from my heart for making these incredible videos. Moving and profound. I have shared these with my father and we love discussing them together. I will continue to share them with my friends. Long live your channel!
Thank you for all the time you out into the ideas and writing behind your videos. They give me so much to think about and give me a lot to talk to my people about.
Thank you, LSOO
I want you to know your art is a voice that helps me narrate my own in a wonderful way.
This series inspired me to start writing an album around this theme.
I hope you're enjoying the story that's unfolding around you too.
Your approach, reasoning and use of film for examples leaves me speechless & crying.
The content you are creating really resonates with me.
Keep up the great work
This has been an absolutely wonderful series, full of insight and shared learning, and beautifully contextualised and presented.
I want to share some of my experiences of the last year, and how storytelling has helped me process it. In the past year, humanity has been on something of a shared adventure (not all adventures are good, or have happy endings). But my experience of the pandemic has been uniquely unrelated to the pandemic although it has been the background driver of events.
In the past year I've been working to complete my PhD, which has been my "quest". When COVID struck a year ago it disrupted my work and rendered it illegal for me to see my girlfriend who lived only a few streets away. It felt like a sudden descent into dystopia. I suffered some depression but I found solace in picking up Lord of the Rings, my comfort read, with my back against a tree in the park much like Frodo. My PhD got delayed. I felt that things couldn't get much worse. Eventually lockdown started easing and things felt like they were looking up.
Then in June, my friend and landlord died suddenly of a heart attack at home. My housemates and I were powerless to do anything to save him, and had to look after his wife. A month later, my girlfriend had to leave the country to return to her home country because her visa had expired. Events have kept and ocean between us ever since and I don't know when I'll see her next. Just a few weeks after her departure, I suffered a knee injury while rock climbing alone and had to rescue myself (not quite as dramatic as Touching the Void). The injury required surgery, physiotherapy and rehabilitation. For a few weeks I was helpless and had to be looked after by my parents. Eventually I got stronger, returned to my office, started (very carefully) climbing and cycling again. I felt that I'd been to rock bottom but things felt like they were looking up.
Just when my recovery was almost complete, I had a small slip on the stairs at home, snagged my injured knee, and tore out all the tendons from my kneecap in the fall. The injury was far worse than the first and I was back in hospital for another round of surgery. My recovery started from scratch, but this time I felt I was the butt of some cosmic joke. A few months later, I'm now recovering fast. My PhD is still unfinished but I'm nearly there. We're in the bleakest lockdown of the worst wave of COVID. The struggle has been to hold out hope and to attach some meaning to a bunch of random events which seem to hold some significance only by their closeness in time.
Once again, I turned to Lord of the Rings. But this time, I can empathise with Frodo so much more because events in my life seem to mirror those of his journey in the book, though of course my journey has not been so dark or hopeless as his. He has his own quest, watches a friend die, is twice injured and has to make a painful parting, all the while the world around him is suffering. Tolkein of course experienced far more trauma and suffering than I could comprehend in the trenches of WWI. But reading his work, which is full of compassion and wisdom, brings hope to me today. My PhD is still incomplete, my leg still not healed, my story is still unresolved as it were, not that they ever are nicely resolved as in the stories we tell. But if I follow in Frodo's footsteps, I suppose I too will pass into the West, crossing an ocean to be with my girlfriend on the other side!
Sam: “It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.”
"Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end?' 'No, they never end as tales,' said Frodo. 'But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later - or sooner.”
Thank you so much! I’m not sure if it’s your hard work or a gift you have which allows you to brilliantly express such deep yet simple concepts in a beautiful way. Maybe it is a combination of both. Please keep giving the world more of this! You’ve revealed so much about the treasures of freedom and the restrictions of structure. The hero’s journey should compel us to live an abundant life, but many times we let it restrict us into imitating the story we think should be ours as well. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope to meet you one day and maybe we can have a conversation about our own journeys. Thank you again!
Amazing work! You have no idea how much I love your videos. Keep rocking it, man!
This Is THE MOST underrated channel i know
Hi LSOO, just wanted to leave a small message. I've been following your content for a bit more than 2 years now I think ? And I just wanted to thank you... Everytime I've been in a low, your videos were there to help me calm down (your voice and the way you talk are wonderful), to help me feel something when I was apathetic, to break the dam of dissociation... and to make me feel like there is still something worth living for out there, that there's something worth believing in for humanity... and for myself.
So... thank you. Thank you so much for putting your content out there, and for being you, and for being here and alive. I'm happy I get to be alive at a time I can see these videos, and think about everything they bring to the table.
An absolutely profound trilogy of video essays! Loved all of it. Your work has always managed to connect with me, especially this one. You've expressed my half thoughts so eloquently. Thank you!
Throughout the entirely of this episode, I'm crying huge tears. Thank you for your deep insight and sensitivity in presentation. ❤️
LSOO - I subscribe to quite a few channels that I consider 'high quality', but yours, IMHO, is at the top of a very high mountain my friend.
As Chuck Klosterman's said, if "Art’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you", then you sir are an Artist (and Philosopher) of the very highest order.
Thank you for all your work. You're building a staggering portfolio, and I can't for the life of me understand why you're not inundated with offers of funding to either make full feature films, or to be their editor of their choice. Because as I've said quite a few times, you're reviews are frequently far better than the actual movies themselves.
God, this is borderline therapeutic. Keep up these videos, so they would indeed become The Stories of Old!
Beautiful as always, got emotional at a few parts!
I thank you for your videos, they have helped me reach higher in my understanding and awareness of a lot of things.
Truly grateful for your work!
This has been an absolutely fantastic series! Thank you so much for all the hard work and time you have put into them, they are works of art within themselves. I know I will be revisiting them for years to come! Thank you. 🙏
Thank you for helping random people... You have a good heart. God bless you.