Essun raised Nassun in a rather forward, non-conventional way in the sense that if Nassun wanted something she should not wait for others to act first, but solely rely on herself. In recollection, in The Obelisk Gate, Nassun remembers that “there has never been anyone to save Nassun. Her mother warned her there never would be if Nassun ever wants to be free of fear, she has no choice but to forge that freedom for herself” (385). In subtle reference to my last post, Imprisonment :/, I love the proactive nature Essun has instilled into Nassun.
In comparison, religion can commonly develop a culture of “praying the problem away.” I was raised Catholic, but I currently identify as agnostic. However, while I was apart of the Korean Catholic Church, I often found myself frustrated when asking other church members for advice. Also, I include that I was a member of the Korean Catholic Church, because I find that religion in practice can significantly change with different ethnicities. Anywho, seemingly, if I had a problem, I was told the only solution was to keep my faith in God strong and continue to pray. I think such ideologies are not realistic to practice, because in the end, one cannot solely rely on someone else’s will for things to turn out well. The idea that proactiveness is key in addressing one’s struggles is one I hold highly, because at the end of the day, you can be in charge of your own destiny. However, cheesy that may sound, the optimist in me believes otherwise.
To break the fourth wall, this applies to my blog posts as well. I have no one to blame, but myself for the horrible pacing of my posts. The absolute hardest part of writing a blog post, for me, is finding a solid idea to actually write about. But, those are excuses. I should have been proactive, because now I am here…suffering. In retrospect, I need to take this ideology into practice, instead of preaching it.
In conclusion, I believe that wholly putting one’s faith into another and expecting things to come to fruition is naive.
Disclaimer: Religion is definitely a sensitive topic to delve into, so I apologize if I came off anti-religion in this post, I am speaking of my personal experience with the Korean Catholic Church.