The author and the story

The Instagram algorithm is fascinating. I came across a profound intellectual and philosophical piece of content not from any self-proclaimed Indian guru but an American stand-up comedian.

This is Pete Holmes' bit.

He draws a fascinating philosophic parallel between characters in a book and the author.

He simply says that most people look for God in this universe - something that he has created - and that is akin to the character looking for the author in the book he/she has written, in which the character lives. 

I'd add that each character is themself a version of the author. Every version of the author exists in each of the characters he writes about. They just can't see it from inside the book. 

Watching this immediately drew me back to the Finale of Loki Season 2.

For those who haven't watched the show - let me first give you spoiler alert warnings here.

Loki, the god of mischief, spends the entire series trying to find his purpose, only to discover it requires giving up everything, including the story itself.

In the finale - Loki confronts He Who Remains - who is trying to keep alive the Sacred Timeline. This is the timeline in which all different versions of Kang are killed and it's the timeline that He Who Remains controls and prunes to ensure that he is the one in control. 

In the show, He Who Remains plays God. Pete's bit talks about the character unable to find God. And in the show, it shows us why. He Who Remains, although playing God, was also the character in that universe. He was both the author and the character of the universe he was controlling.

And he was failing - only to be shown how to salvage this problem by none other than Loki himself.

Loki's solution was not only logical but also deeply spiritual and philosophic. 

He quickly realized that he cannot take control of the timeline as the character and write the very stories where the character resides - he needs to transcend it all.

And that's what he does. He bypasses the timelines by 'skipping' all the timelines and becoming the 'conduit' of every timeline - but sitting out of it all. 

Every version of him still exists - but none of them know of this grand master Loki seated on that throne.

Lonely as it is, it is noble. It was a Glorious Purpose and an apt name for the finale.

The most interesting aspect of all of this is that we are all desperately and rather consciously becoming He Who Remains

We are all trying to write our own story and know that there are many versions of ourselves. But we are constantly 'pruning' these different versions of ourself, to ensure that the image we create of ourself is what we believe is IDEAL. 

We are the character trying to become the author, and trying to control the narrative. It's the sum of the characters that make us who we are. Not just a simple 'pruned' version of a character. 

Our quest for self branding and trying to showcase this polished version of ourself is just a facet of ourself. Not our entire self. Just a character. 

We need to all become Loki to be able to transcend it all and truly accept that there will always be versions of ourselves that we may not like - but who do exist. We could choose to not showcase them in the story we write, but believing they don't exist when you already carry them within you is foolish.

So don't try to prune yourself to perfection. Don't chase the sacred timeline. Don't try to become the character trying to look for a perfect version of the author.

Just embrace all versions of yourself. Be authentic, be imperfect. Be human.