Tuesday Tell All Topic: Touch (ha! say that ten times fast)

This is my first TTA entry. See previous post to learn more, and if you want to join the group it's over in my list of blogs (which you should all go check out... especially Baldy's Blog) Anyway here we go.

One of my favorite authors is Brandon Sanderson, he's great and the worlds he creates are amazing. In his book Elantris, he describes a world where the magic has broken and those who once wielded it are now doomed to an eternity of pain. They don't heal from their wounds, they don't die. The first sensations of a stubbed toe, or a sliced finger stays with them forever. Building upon each other until at last the person's mind cracks.

The other day I stubbed my toe pretty bad, I though at first that it might be broken (I'm a little more confident today that it's not... but we'll see) and the pain was enough to make me nauseous. It made me remember that book.. What would it be like to feel that immediate pain forever?

The power that comes with feeling would turn to a curse, you'd be weak, fragile, careful. Yet no matter how slowly you walked there is just no way you can constantly protect yourself from simple accidents. Take for instance all those little aches and pains that build up just from living. I'm only 27 years old and some days I'd really rather not know what 30 more years of life are going to feel like. My back aches from birthing three children, and my knee is a constant nagging in the back of my mind, I really don't want more.

Now imagine, every time you've gotten a headache, every sore throat, every paper cut, every bruise. Add them all up in your mind, and then don't allow yourself the pleasure of death, because that's what it would become a release. It makes me wonder if this is almost what some diseases must feel like. Cancer for instance, is supposed to be a pretty lousy way to go.

Anyway, when I saw this topic that's what I thought of, Elantris. It's not such a dark book, and it's got an awesome ending, but it's the kind of idea that stays with you, and every time you feel something exceptionally strong you remember that book and are really glad you don't have to feel it forever.

I think we take our senses for granted, like a lot of things I guess, and sometimes we wonder what would it be like to lose one of them. Why don't we ever wonder what it would be like to have a sense heightened beyond what we want. That would be just as bad, if not worse.

So go buy Elantris... and ponder all things magical. lol.