A desolate planet in a far-off galaxy, along the farthest quadrant of the universe. The grey and orange X-Wing Fighter touches down, landing on the uneven, craggy brown land. A man leaps from the cockpit of the ship, flying backwards through the air with acrobatic precision, touching down on the earth with a shockwave. He is a Jedi Knight, of the highest order, sent to this planet to evaluate the rumors of a Sith Lord hiding in a local cave system.
The hooded Jedi makes his way through the densely packed jungle, until he comes upon the cave system; a monolith of grey stone, raised high above the treeline towards the heavens. The interior of the cave is damp and dark, much like the swampy rain-forest that lie before it. Around several corners he goes, until he comes across the final chamber. No sooner than when he enters, an all too familiar sound espouses from the center of the room; along with it, a trail of red light beams into form, and waves forward, the blade of a Sith. And so the battle begins.
It is only when I accidentally knock over the precariously perched fork from my bedside table that I come back to reality: I am a 20 year old man, swinging a twelve dollar plastic blue lightsaber from Toys R Us, (if only I could make the "R" backwards for maximum immersion) around my college dorm room. I have accidentally slain my steel food utensil: the poor fool lays broken at my feet. This space is too small to defeat my enemy, I think to myself. I must take this battle outside, into the light!
I can't even say how many people would frown upon the idea of an adult man running around his room fighting imaginary foes with a toy sword, but I can definitely guarantee that it is a vast majority of people. Adults are supposed to be orderly and do work; they must meet deadlines and go do adult things, not play like a child. This is something I've heard from many a people. The childlike fun of imagination is lost on them, play being something they care little for. Why is that? Have adult responsibilities completely sapped the fun from them, like a majestic Canadian maple drained of it's sticky stuff to feed the mouths of hungry little pancake eating monst- I mean children? Yeah, that's what I meant.
In our average, everyday human lives, stress is our Sith Lord- slashing and swinging away at our defenses, using its force powers to blast through our defenses until we are exposed. There has to be something to lessen, or at the very least distract from, the everyday stress of work and the real world, whether it be playing with a toy lightsaber, listening to music, or just being outside. It's up to us to become the Jedi we were born to be, (Unless you were born to be a Sith, but that's a whole other story.), to battle against our stresses. If we train hard enough, maybe one day maybe we can truly defeat the Dark Side-stress- for good.
