So, there used to be this company called Broderbund. They made games, really good games in fact. But the best and most famous was Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Among other things, that game introduced me to an idea that I've since realized is universal: a thing that is sought after but never found; or found, but cannot be kept.
Maybe just a bit profound for a five year old, but I honestly think that I recognized it as something important, in a vague way, even all those years ago. The theme certainly shows up everywhere in the movies I see (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and the books I read (Foucault's Pendulum). It's related to, but not the same as, Hitchcock's MacGuffins: I'm talking about goals that do hold some inherent meaning. There's also a lot of aphorisms along the same lines: not the destination but the journey, means are more important than ends, getting there is half the fun, etc.
As I get older, though, I find myself questioning more and more this received wisdom. In particular, the motif of finding-but-not-keeping is NOT something I want playing out in my personal life, as I've complained loudly and bitterly to many of my friends. The destination is important, and if you never expect to reach it, then the journey itself becomes meaningless too. I hate it when I feel like I'm perpetually one step behind something and can never quite catch up. It doesn't motivate me, it just depresses me. And it needs to stop.
I'm probably being too abstract here but I think y'all can connect the dots.
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