The flight of Icarus or the comfort of Hestia? At this precise moment in my life I feel I have begun my own flight, like Icarus, into adventure and have left the comfort of my home, Hestia. I understand the symbolism behind both Greek figures but I do not feel a particular commitment to either of them. Instead I view them as two separate events that ultimately complement each other. You always want one, and you are always going to need the other.
Allow me to elaborate; you need Hestia meaning you need the comfort and warmth of your own home. You need what that sense of wholeness has to offer; it embeds itself inside you and ultimately becomes you. The real test of that character is when you begin a flight like Icarus into the unknown. Do you follow the advice and wisdom of your father and stay away from the sun and sea? Or are you over-taken by the rush and freedom of spreading your own wings that eventually lead you too close to the sun and in exchange slams you into the sea?
I’ve left the comfort and warmth of my own home; I’ve done it in order to test my character, my 22 years of developing Hestia. So my flight of Icarus has led me to Chico and my sense of adventure dares me to fly as close to the sun as I can, but my fear of the sea is what keeps me in-line, that is my Hestia.
The eternal struggle in longing to belong is something I think everyone can admit to. I know I have felt it when I am at home in San Diego hoping to be out creating my own sense of things. Yet when I am finally out and taking part in my own experiences (i.e. living here in Chico) I long to belong to something I recognize and already know, home.
So at this particular moment yes I identify myself a little more with the flight of Icarus, because I feel I am on my own flight. Except when it is over, and if I have not crashed and burned, then I return home to gather myself.
Eventually you create your own sense of home and just take it with you, people move away all the time and just never end up going back to where they originally came from. But at least they know where they came from and that always stays with you.
I don’t know where I originally heard this quote but it embodies pretty much both aspects, “you can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the boy.”
2 comments on The Flight of Icarus
Add a comment
To add comments without entering your email and image verification, you must be logged in. Login or Join Blogster
Great use of "voice." Very nicely written.
Nice work! As a fellow (former?) Southern Californian I think its great that you decided to go out on your own. The majority of my friends down south had the attitude of "Southern California is the best place in the world. Why would I leave?" But I think such an attitude misses the point. I don't think one knows who they are until they put themselves in a different environment and can break out of old patterns. Although, of course, I do miss the beach :)