If Something Love is about the loving acceptance and embrace of the unknown, this is about how one might find themself there and what can lie within. "I walked away from my home in the woods." This is me leaving my safe refuge. It's not entirely safe as it's surrounded by monsters and darkness and chaos that will inevitably break in, but in the moment it is safe and warm. So making the choice to leave is based on the recognition that I will either voluntarily make myself vulnerable and leave by choice, or I wade in hopium until I am ruthlessly exposed. Leaving the forest for the open water isn't much of a step up in terms of safety, but at least now I'm under the guidance of an experienced elder. As Something Love points out, the unknown harbors the potential for growth and transformation, but make no mistake, Ladt Unknown is still a dangerous mistress. It takes skills to navigate the sea: Skills to keep the ship afloat, and skills to maintain the integrity of the mind. At the edge of the world, we find desires; desires for power, for pleasure, for answers. The allure of the siren is her beauty, her song - one could very easily be deceived into believing that to experience that ecstasy is the very reason for setting sail. Odysseus had himself tied to the mast, for he knew that the greatest treasure is given only to those who resist. The pleasures and powers of the unknown are great and tempting, but the wise man knows that it is only the freezing abyss that lies beyond them. Still, one has to ask: is experiencing the thrill of the edge at least better than living a life of mundane safety and blind acceptance that that's all there is? On the one hand, one is still succumbing to a pleasure far lesser than the Ultimate Treasure. On the other, how could we ever come to fathom the greatness of what lies beyond without being willing to risk total annihilation?
lyrics
I walked away from my home in the woods
Bears and monsters frighten me, never thought I could
Where do I go? Who do I see?
Never really thought much about a man besides me.
Hey Mr. sailor man, where yah headed?
I'm tryin to get out of here, never thought I could
He said, "Son, it's long. You don't even know
But if you can mop the deck and raise the sail I won't say no."
Those long windy days took a lot out of me
Never been on the water before, let alone at sea
Well I found a girl, she sang me songs of old
With a voice so perfect I forgot the water's cold
I wrapped my arms around her, I didn't mind if I drowned
As long as I could spend just one more minute with that beautiful sound
Then her croon became a shriek, soft lips bear sharp teeth
All the light bled from my eyes as she took me underneath
Now I get a sense just how it felt for the men on the Edmund Fitz
That deep dark see won't ever release you from her frozen maleficent mitts
But what a way to die, I was too drenched to cry
Maybe one day I'll get a proper grave as I wash up on high tide
As my dying breath left I had a chance to regret ever leaving home
But it's much too late and I've sealed my fate and besides, who could have known?
And who's to say it's much better to have lived scared and alone?
Now I see the light and know my choice was right to die in the arms of Lady Unknown
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