Tarzan’s Challenge: Creating Something New

The best line from the 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes attacked my mind like a rushing panther: “Transcend the loss and pain; create something new…. Or all you have worked for will be in vain.” The young Earl of Greystoke -- or Tarzan, as we commonly know him -- had been given the chance to be what he really was – human and not an ape. For many of us, the choice is simply between failure and success.

At that point in the story, he was now the former-heir and thus owner of the vast Greystoke estate. But his “animal instincts” would not give him rest. The jungle lived in him – not the serene beauty we see from afar but the seeming chaos of nature we fail to comprehend and yet live daily with in the parallel concrete jungles of the cities.

And so in the end, Tarzan went back to his jungle.

Sometimes, we do need to go back to some places in our past – literally or mentally -- so we can truly appreciate how we were in relation to what we are now. In the process, we find great pleasure in what was and what has been. The fortunate few eventually learn to relish what is and what they have and then move forward to greater heights and fresher horizons.

Creating something new -- as opposed to remaining stagnant in the past or even in the present – takes quite a great amount of courage and wisdom. The challenge, however, remains. History and literature (oh, well, even Hollywood) have equipped us with sumptuous fare to whet our appetite for the greatest adventure we call life. Too often though, we just sit smugly in our comfort zones.

The childish and sometimes inane treatment of such classic stories as Tarzan and Hercules used to excite the kid in me no end. The action and the sense of adventure kept me awake at night and even during boring classes. It gives me great relief that some scriptwriters have matured enough in keeping with our desire for more meaningful entertainment.

Viewing this movie again on cable – while writing this article (this kind of multi-tasking can’t be done inside the movie-house) – proves the idea that we are at a stage in human history when opportunities for personal as well as collective learning and progress have advanced beyond measure. Yes, there will be setbacks like shipwrecks or natural calamities but human life will overcome destruction and corruption as long as we nurture the spirit within us all.

How?

By creating something new every day of our lives, whether it be a work of art, an innovative enterprise, a renewed relationship, a fresh musical style or a new person in you with better habits.

I never thought Tarzan – the epitome of the innocently crude human character -- would come back to me at my age and make me think such sublime thoughts. That is something really new to me.

(Photo above: Musical stairs: A staircase seen from above seems like a stylized grand piano or a harp. The blacks and whites emphasize the illusion. Amazing! Taken by my son, Jon, in Vancouver, Canada.)