I hate the time period in which I live. Actually, hate is too strong a
word. I greatly dislike the modern age. Not because of the people, the
pollution, the politicians, and the like (well, okay, maybe a little,
but that's normal for most people) but because I don't belong here; I've
been "displaced". I should've been born a very long time ago, probably
before the 1700's.
I'm not alone in my feelings, I'm sure of that. Look at all of the
people who go to and work at Renaissance Festivals across the nation.
Not necessarily all of these people, because some are in it for the
acting experience or to make a profit. But take the ones who dress
"authentically" in home made Ren Fest clothes. Many people who work at
Ren Fest's or go to them are trying to express something about
themselves that has been lost. That sense of being lost in time, being
displaced from where they're supposed to be.
By now, you're probably thinking that even the theory of being displaced
in time is impossible. That's only because you've never felt the
longing that we displaced people have felt. Allow me to explain, using
myself as an example. I am descended from the Celts, probably Irish.
The sound of a dulcimer or harp or any other form of Celtic music takes
me instantly from the moment where I'm at and tries to pull me to
somewhere else. But, you say, that's a feeling that anyone can get when
listening to ancestral music. True, I will concede that point. However
there's another feeling: extreme frustration.
Frustration like you've never felt before. You are trapped HERE. You
cannot go "home", where ever that may be. Sure, I could go visit
Ireland, but that would only be in a physical sense. HOME would be the
ability to hop into a time machine and go back. Unfortunately, that's
not possible or even realistic (thus, Renaissance Festival).
Frustration is a bad time to encounter a displaced person; it can lead
to several other emotions (as for me, I may tend to get angry for a
while). Eventually, another state is reached: apathy or depression.
Let's start with apathy (how I was feeling earlier). Just not wanting
to do anything or care about anything. Apathy is hard to explain; it's
just feeling bad, bordering on depression. "There's not really anything
that can be done about this modern world and all of it's problems. I
wish I was not here!" This is different from a longing for the "good
old days". Any truly displaced person knows that previous time periods
were not the "good old days". At least now there's not much threat of
being bled to death by leeches in case of a headache or worrying about
the next attack by the Huns.
And then there's depression. Not really suicidal, but more of a
hopelessness of even having a truly complete identity. For some people,
this leads to tears, feelings of loneliness, hours of being quiet and
wondering, "What's the point to all of this??" Other people just get
moody, and the rest of us start philosophizing, writing stories, or
drawing / painting. The expressions of where they ought to be.
So, the next time that you see someone making mead or medieval clothing;
see someone driving dressed in strange clothing on their way to the
nearest Renaissance Festival; hear the eerie, haunting music of an
ocarina flute or a recorder being played in a stairwell or outside,
don't shake your head and think that person is messed up in the head.
Don't think they're trying to escape today by living in the past.
They're not. They're just trying to remember what home was like.