Need Name
Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 15:51
You guys remember how I've been looking for a unique name for 2 years and posted about it a few months ago, right? Well, I've finally settled on an excellent concept to base my name around. I will explain this in great detail below.
At the end of the school year, my European history teacher made us view a film and read a book to burn away the last 3 weeks. The film was entitled "Life Is Beautiful" and the book was "The Stranger". The two works discussed completely opposing themes and world views. LIB showed how even the worst of situations could be made positive, and The Stranger showed how every situation was ultimately meaningless. In the months prior to this, I was having dramatic mood swings between the two views, and only realized it after we read/watched the book/film. Looking back, I don't really know why I felt so empty and negative such a large percentage of the time…it was just a phase. I did have issues with school (I was under a ton of pressure), but no reason to feel so bad. There were many, many times when this feeling of meaninglessness was so great that I even considered suicide. The Stranger made me realize what I was feeling, and more importantly, it made me realize that it was absolutely idiotic. Things weren't meaningless, just difficult. And I wanted to get away from that difficulty. So, I suppose I take it back: I know exactly why I felt the way I did. But I learned from that. I realized that even a well-off, lucky teenager like myself could feel on-top-of-the-world one day, and then feel astonishingly depressed the next day. It was all part of life. Life has its different colors… some days you're grey, some days you're bright.
This concept of "colors" of life wasn't forged just through the above experience. If anything, it only added meaning and clarity to a concept I'd made earlier. The exact situation that gave rise to my concept is one I've long forgotten. It probably doesn't even exist; it probably wasn't one situation. It was probably a stray thought that gained force through many experiences like the one above. But I believe it was last made aware to me with the revival of Beyblade earlier this year. I was big into Beyblade back when it was popular (2010-2012), and was reminded of it when Beyblade Burst (2015) was announced. I went back on YouTube and was reminded of the different emotions I felt during the anime (which, despite having a basic plot-line, was somehow awesome), emotions often shared by the characters. Characters' Beys always had auras based on the character's personality. L-Drago was purple while Ryuga was evil, but after he overcame the evil in his heart and became purely hungry for power (still sounds evil, I know. But he really did become a good guy. Kinda like Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z), L-Drago's aura became Red. I also noted the beauty of special edition Beys. I've honestly never seen better color combos. Go google some right now; they honestly look amazing. Despite seeming weak to those that haven't experienced it, this example truly did teach me the power of colors for the expression of emotions.
This thought is by no means unique. I recently noticed that the Lantern Corps of the DC Universe (Green Lanterns etc…) are all based on the different colors of the "emotional color spectrum".
Later on in the summer, I encountered a game which further strengthened my understanding of this concept. It did an excellent job of illustrating the crookedness of man amongst other things. It's incredibly rich in story, almost like the Walking Dead (video game), only much more believable. Being a high school student, it was also much easier for me personally to relate to. I can't really put the game into words. It was just so spectacular. I highly recommend that all of you, whether you consider yourselves to be gamers or not, play this master piece. At least watch a play-through of it if nothing else. If, after watching the linked trailers, you're wondering why I included a paragraph on this, let me explain. The concept of "The Colors of Life" is not about life's beauty. No, it is about life's diversity. It's about how one day can be spectacular and the next abyssal. It's about the abstract emotions life can exhibit: happiness, joy, pain, anger, ecstasy etc. , and the literal colors that can symbolize them. Life can be different all the time… and you'll find that life is often strange. This other part wad the discovery of a symbol for my concept. And I had the perfect one: The Phoenix. It's been a symbol of life for as long as I can remember. A symbol of resurrection, of never giving up, of picking yourself up after you've fallen down. My particular version of the Phoenix mixes versions from Harry Potter and Pokemon. The way I see it, the ideal Phoenix exists in Harry Potter. It provides healing and life, along with comfort and loyalty. Add to that the beautiful colors and you've got yourself a winner. Ho-Oh from Pokemon is a symbol of guidance and persistence that also has beauty in the form of the colors of the rainbow. It also adds power to the mix. But the physical features of neither bird are important. It is the characteristics of both that I love. Back to the Beyblade AMVs, there is one that somehow puts all of this into action. It features a man, by the name of Phoenix (in the dub) who's life was ruined by the very man he is fighting. But rose up under this new identity. And he absolutely refuses to lose this time around. If you find it hard to look past the logos and poor animation, the song, "Awake and Alive" by Skillet should still say everything: So those are my two defining concepts. The Colors of Life and The Phoenix. They summarize me in an entirety. Now I just need a name that summarizes them…
At the end of the school year, my European history teacher made us view a film and read a book to burn away the last 3 weeks. The film was entitled "Life Is Beautiful" and the book was "The Stranger". The two works discussed completely opposing themes and world views. LIB showed how even the worst of situations could be made positive, and The Stranger showed how every situation was ultimately meaningless. In the months prior to this, I was having dramatic mood swings between the two views, and only realized it after we read/watched the book/film. Looking back, I don't really know why I felt so empty and negative such a large percentage of the time…it was just a phase. I did have issues with school (I was under a ton of pressure), but no reason to feel so bad. There were many, many times when this feeling of meaninglessness was so great that I even considered suicide. The Stranger made me realize what I was feeling, and more importantly, it made me realize that it was absolutely idiotic. Things weren't meaningless, just difficult. And I wanted to get away from that difficulty. So, I suppose I take it back: I know exactly why I felt the way I did. But I learned from that. I realized that even a well-off, lucky teenager like myself could feel on-top-of-the-world one day, and then feel astonishingly depressed the next day. It was all part of life. Life has its different colors… some days you're grey, some days you're bright.
This concept of "colors" of life wasn't forged just through the above experience. If anything, it only added meaning and clarity to a concept I'd made earlier. The exact situation that gave rise to my concept is one I've long forgotten. It probably doesn't even exist; it probably wasn't one situation. It was probably a stray thought that gained force through many experiences like the one above. But I believe it was last made aware to me with the revival of Beyblade earlier this year. I was big into Beyblade back when it was popular (2010-2012), and was reminded of it when Beyblade Burst (2015) was announced. I went back on YouTube and was reminded of the different emotions I felt during the anime (which, despite having a basic plot-line, was somehow awesome), emotions often shared by the characters. Characters' Beys always had auras based on the character's personality. L-Drago was purple while Ryuga was evil, but after he overcame the evil in his heart and became purely hungry for power (still sounds evil, I know. But he really did become a good guy. Kinda like Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z), L-Drago's aura became Red. I also noted the beauty of special edition Beys. I've honestly never seen better color combos. Go google some right now; they honestly look amazing. Despite seeming weak to those that haven't experienced it, this example truly did teach me the power of colors for the expression of emotions.
This thought is by no means unique. I recently noticed that the Lantern Corps of the DC Universe (Green Lanterns etc…) are all based on the different colors of the "emotional color spectrum".
Later on in the summer, I encountered a game which further strengthened my understanding of this concept. It did an excellent job of illustrating the crookedness of man amongst other things. It's incredibly rich in story, almost like the Walking Dead (video game), only much more believable. Being a high school student, it was also much easier for me personally to relate to. I can't really put the game into words. It was just so spectacular. I highly recommend that all of you, whether you consider yourselves to be gamers or not, play this master piece. At least watch a play-through of it if nothing else. If, after watching the linked trailers, you're wondering why I included a paragraph on this, let me explain. The concept of "The Colors of Life" is not about life's beauty. No, it is about life's diversity. It's about how one day can be spectacular and the next abyssal. It's about the abstract emotions life can exhibit: happiness, joy, pain, anger, ecstasy etc. , and the literal colors that can symbolize them. Life can be different all the time… and you'll find that life is often strange. This other part wad the discovery of a symbol for my concept. And I had the perfect one: The Phoenix. It's been a symbol of life for as long as I can remember. A symbol of resurrection, of never giving up, of picking yourself up after you've fallen down. My particular version of the Phoenix mixes versions from Harry Potter and Pokemon. The way I see it, the ideal Phoenix exists in Harry Potter. It provides healing and life, along with comfort and loyalty. Add to that the beautiful colors and you've got yourself a winner. Ho-Oh from Pokemon is a symbol of guidance and persistence that also has beauty in the form of the colors of the rainbow. It also adds power to the mix. But the physical features of neither bird are important. It is the characteristics of both that I love. Back to the Beyblade AMVs, there is one that somehow puts all of this into action. It features a man, by the name of Phoenix (in the dub) who's life was ruined by the very man he is fighting. But rose up under this new identity. And he absolutely refuses to lose this time around. If you find it hard to look past the logos and poor animation, the song, "Awake and Alive" by Skillet should still say everything: So those are my two defining concepts. The Colors of Life and The Phoenix. They summarize me in an entirety. Now I just need a name that summarizes them…
