(this is largely a repost from Gab)
Finding all sorts of good AMVs today! Makes me want to rewatch the series (maybe sans the filler episodes)...
Naruto was always my favorite, he's like goofy and imperfect, but he never stops trying even when everyone is constantly hating on him and thinking low of him... he just keeps proving them wrong, improving his strength/skills and never falters from his convictions, even with all the worst forms of temptation imaginable. And all the while he's trying to save his best friend from a path of self-destruction and refuses to ever give up.
I think I like it cause I draw a lot of parallels between the characters and my own life. To me Itachi is sort of like my abusive dad who grew up in an especially abusive era and, as a result, wound up passing that abuse on his kids in the same way that Itachi passed the abuse of his entire clan onto to his little brother, Sasuke.
Relationally my own brother essentially followed after my dad, picking up on his abusive traits, most notably that "silence treatment" bit... except, in my family... it's kinda permanent.
Most of my family hasn't communicated with me for close to 20 years now, much in the same way that Sasuke cut off from Naruto and his entire village as a means of seeking vengeance.
But no matter how bad Sasuke gets, no matter how evil he tries to be... Naruto never stops loving his ninja brother and never stops trying to save him from all the endless torment he's afflicted with by Itachi and the abusive nature of his clan.
I found it really inspirational when I was younger, made dealing with the pain of severe emotional isolation and relentless abuse a lot easier to handle.
It was all a lie of course, but... it was a good lie to tell myself when I was younger. In reality my entire family is so hopelessly abusive and evil that, when I was younger, I used to create artificial imitation copies of my family in the form of, essentially, imaginary characters... which I then actively superimposed into my perception in order to see them as human, in order to imagine a sense of love that never existed.
The older I got though the more I realized that... they never really were human at all, the "family" that I thought I had was nothing more than delusion. They hated me, they always hated me and there was never any sense of love to be salvaged in the first place.
But, like I said, when I younger and a lot more naive... yeah, series like Naruto and FMA:Brotherhood really helped me through some terrible times.
This was the very first Naruto AMV I saw, about 18 years ago...
Mmmm, good memories!
*takes a wee toke and has a wee think*
You know, when you think about it... our perception is largely what we WANT to see, rather than what's actually happening... meaning... most of our memories and even most of our lives aren't really real at all.
We can't be caught in any sort of "Matrix" because... we already are. The reason that movie is so jarring for people the first time they see it is because it's exposing their own nature.
Their perception is the Matrix that traps the real world.
Sometimes, you need to learn to let go of hurt and hate... because that's Mr. Smith and he wants to absorb you so he can wreak havoc upon the world, not for you, but for him.
Don't think of your wrath as your own, think of it as frustration feedback. Frustration is what you want impeded by what you don't have.
That is, the present level of having can't facilitate the wanting and so frustration build and build and eventually explodes into wrath.
It's usually caused by not talking to people. Because humans were specifically designed by God to require social interaction as a means of functioning.
*elevates further*
To put that in simple terms... it's always easier to solve someone else's problems, because most of the time you can't even truly see your own problems. How could you? You're the inside looking out!
People act as mirrors to help us see ourselves as we really are, rather than how we wish we were.
People aren't supposed to tell you what you want to hear, they're supposed to tell you how they perceive you. You might not like it either, but we live in a single reality with infinite perceptions... and someone found the pathway to that particular perception of you.
Those perceptual pathways vary of course, it's a kind of psychosocial storm where you could be the bad guy one day and the hero the next.
The more you seek to communicate and the more you seek to understand communication, the easier it becomes to make reality work for you and the less frustrated you become.
In other words... if you're angry... read more books. The more experience and knowledge you obtain, the more impossible it becomes to feel any sense of wrath or rage.
Don't follow stupid ass self-help gurus who want you to buy into their cult crap.
Just read! Give your own emotions a break and take your imagination for a walk!
which is why it only came on late night TV with all the other weird anime.
