I Hate Goodbyes

Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever... Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time... That is up to you.

Happy Mask Salesman - Majora’s Mask

I feel like with this post and the preceding post that this blog has transformed into something darker than I had originally intended. However, with where my mental state is right now, this has turned into a theraputic resource for me. I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but writing this all is very helpful to get it out of my head. 

We as humans are obsessed with goodbyes. Our movies are filled with people saying goodbye to friends and loved ones. Major literary works are centered around central themes of letting go of the grief associated with saying "Goodbye." There are a few games, such as The Last of Us, who smack you in the face at the beginning of the game with a major loss when *spoilers* Joel’s daughter is killed at the beginning of the game after escaping the initial chaos of the fall of civilization. You think you get out with her and all of a sudden, she gets shot in the gut and you and And your player character, Joel, have to watch this little girl whom you’ve become attached to, pass away without being able to do anything. *end spoilers*

Hell, even one of my favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask has a centralized theme of saying “goodbye” to friends that we have made along the journey with our friends. The whole game deals with both the protagonist Link and the antagonist, Skull Kid, having to deal with the loss of their friends. Link, having lost Navi, his faithful fairy companion sets off on a journey to find her. On that journey, he meets Skull Kid, who we later learn is dealing with the loss of his friends the giants, by trying to bring a moon down on an unsuspecting town to get the giant’s attention. It’s a bit of an overreaction and Link has to spend the whole game getting the giants to come prevent the moon from destroying the town.  As someone who hates goodbyes, I understand Skull Kid’s motivation.

Skull Kid is longing the loss of his friends and looking for some way to bring them back. He’s lonely and takes out that loneliness out on those around him. He literally brings down the moon from the sky with the help of an evil mask to get the attention of his friends and turns our poor protagonist into a monster because he’s lonely. He’s not an evil character bent on world domination or killing innocents for the fun of it. Poor Skull Kid feels abandoned by his friends and is lashing out at the world that did nothing to help him fit in.

The sad part is, that although this story is told in game, this is a regular, everyday occurrence. Lost and lonely people lash out in fear, frustration, and anger at the world around them. And we love their stories. Just take a look the news cycle and you can see an overwhelming number of articles dealing with people greiving the loss of another loved one.

But as much as I hate goodbyes, I know that they are a necessary thing. If life continued onward in the constant state of "hello," we would never know loss and we would not have some of the incredible media and stories that we have experienced throughout the ages. Goodbye is a fact of life and although it can be bittersweet, it adds to the full depth of flavor that life, love and happiness have to offer us.

So until next time, Goodbye my friends.