While I wasn't an invested Wrestling fan back in the '80s and '90s, arguably when Wrestling was at its most entertaining, I was occasionally caught up in the hype for some of the more eccentric and elaborate performers. What drove me to consider joining the fandom at the time was how much the performers resembled superheroes with their elaborate outfits and dramatic personas, especially James Brian Hellwig, also known as The Ultimate Warrior. This guy, with his colored tassels and elaborate makeup, commanded the ring with his pseudo-philosophical ramblings about honor, inner strength, and destiny. Most of it didn't make much sense and was soon dismissed as too much steroid-infused (allegedly) rambling.
However, there was one small aspect of this guy's persona and character that has stood out to me ever since I stumbled upon it in the unlikeliest place, and it is a concept that I feel fits in any situation, especially filmmaking and the arts as a whole.
Let me elaborate.
During the peak of The Ultimate Warrior's popularity, he wrote and published a comic book series based on his character and personal lore. This comic was reviewed and ridiculed by Linkara and Spoony some years back (link to the video at the bottom of this article). While it was really nothing more than another outlet for his fire-hydrant level of insanity, there was one aspect of the comic that stood out from the rest and became a surprising subject for discussion and exploration: a made-up word.
In the first issue of The Ultimate Warrior's comic, the first page is dominated by poorly printed text on an equally unappealing background, except for one specific, initially nonsensical word and its definition. The made-up word in question is "Destrucity," which, aside from sounding like a bad translation of a juice box brand, is actually an amalgamation of three words: Destiny, Truce, and Reality. According to the comic, the primary definition of "Destrucity" is a truce between one's destiny and reality, promising to remain true to what one is destined to be, while also accepting the now, one's reality.
In essence, it is a made-up word meant to encourage you to find a good middle ground between your dreams and your duties, your aspirations and your responsibilities, your dream job and your day job, and so on.
While this is easy to disregard as the mere ramblings of a lunatic neanderthal, the same guy who legally changed his name to Warrior so he could own the trademark (no joke, he actually did that, link here), it has become one of those things that makes a bit more sense the more you think about it overtime.
Wait! Wait! Please don't leave, I promise I'm going somewhere with this.
Many times in our lives, we feel as though we're stuck in a rut for some reason or other. We occasionally feel burned out by our day job, wondering why we're still there and not doing more to pursue our passions and dreams, whatever they may be for you. These feelings of despair and frustration aren't helped by the modern rude awakening to the notion that constantly whining, cheating, and bullying can get you what you want out of life: a tactic that may work for some people, but one that will ultimately deliver hollow and failed outcomes.
Occasionally, we say things to ourselves like, "What am I not doing?" or "If I just had that costly thing?" or "I don't have any real connections in the business to get my foot in the door," and so on. These phrases and questions inevitably pop up in our minds at some point, and they inevitably feel terrible, but also pointless.
I am not where I thought I would be at this point in my life. I had thoughts of working professionally in filmmaking and, of course, I still do. However, rather than dwelling on thoughts of what hasn't happened or what I haven't done to make something happen (yet), I found it much healthier—and perhaps more professional—to look at how my reality has and continues to bring me closer to my aspirations than I thought.
In my second book, The Fox and the Dragons (shameless plug), there's a line spoken by Michael, one of the supporting characters, that I struggled to put into the story, because I wasn't entirely sure how much (if at all) I believed in the sentiment:
"Sometimes, where we are is where we need to be."
This line stems from several aspects of my personal experience, which, for various reasons I won't go into detail about, have ultimately led me to realize and accept that happiness and ambition are things that can and should change based on our ability to reevaluate and evolve. What I mean by that is it's too easy to get frustrated by the life we don't have but want; we can become blind to the life we do have and probably need.
Things in my own life may not have worked out as I had initially wanted or dreamed, but I have found over time that it is still on a sound track, because I am serving a greater purpose while keeping my interests and ambitions alive. I'm not working in Hollywood, but I have since discovered that the Hollywood dream isn't really all that interesting or worth chasing down. I'm not getting paid to make movies in any capacity (yet), but I'm enjoying all the projects I'm working on with my friends that may catch the attention of some influential people later on. The life and condition I have give me opportunities to be there for those I care about, and that's more worth my time and energy than anything else.
Destrucity is another way of saying and utilizing one of my favorite real words in the English language: Yet. Instead of repeating the admittedly silly-sounding word when you find yourself in a pit, add this little three-letter word to your vocabulary. "I haven't gotten a chance to prove myself... yet," or "I can't get the job I really want... yet," and "I'm not where I want to be in my life... yet."
Another way to see it is to think of your life and experiences thus far as my favorite punctuation: the semicolon.
The established rules for using it can be confusing at times, but it is a good way of saying you're not done yet! Whatever your goals and ambitions are in life, we may not achieve them the way we thought we would, or the way popular convention wants us to think we must. Still, we can always find ourselves on the right track by looking at what we're doing with ourselves and our dreams here and now, and take comfort in knowing that we're making a difference in some way to those who matter most.
Destrucity may be a made-up word, but it bears some truth in our reality; we just have to maintain the fortitude to see it, recognize it, and embrace it.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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