Deus Ex Machina
Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash
At the end of the movie, Jurassic Park, the lead actors are in an enclosed space, surrounded by menacing velociraptors. It looks like their time is up, until suddenly, out of nowhere, a T-Rex suddenly appears and attacks the velociraptors, allowing our heroes to escape to safety.
That plot twist is called a Deus Ex Machina, which is Latin for God From The Machine, wherein a completely unexpected event occurs (or person appears, etc.) to miraculously alter the dynamic of the situation and save the day (or alter the course of events).
It’s a plot device that has been used countless times in the movies, to good (and bad) effect, depending on your point of view. Some consider it a delightful story device while others think of it as a cheat, a lazy way out of a difficult situation. (Take, for example, the ending of the movie War Of The Worlds: a cold, really?)
Of course, we will look at fictional situations such as these and laugh at the absurdity of the device. But let’s be honest: how many times have we operated as if we were expecting a Deus Ex Machina to pluck us out of our own difficult situation and solve all of our problems?
Whether it’s the job we’re in, the relationship we’re grappling with or the health goals we have for ourselves. We mentally turn over everything we’re unhappy with, the things we’d like to have changed and the ideal(s) we’d like to see realized.
And we hope, silently or otherwise, for someone or something, somewhere, to somehow solve all of our problems.
But isn’t that simply a fool’s errand? That, suddenly, a miracle will occur?
The core of the issue isn’t somewhere else - it’s within us. The truth is that we’re not taking the steps needed to realize that change. We’re not doing the work.
Instead, we immerse ourselves in bitter debates (with ourselves and others), pointing fingers at all that is wrong and all that needs to be fixed. We seem content with idealizing the way things should be, if only…
But we’re not doing the work.
Instead, we hope, consciously or otherwise, for our very own deus ex machina to solve all of our problems for us. Just like that.
Life just doesn’t work that way. Except for the odd situation here or there, there are no deus ex machinas in life.
Instead, there are our goals. There is our intent. There is our work.
Step by step, one foot in front of the other. There is only one solution.
And that is, to do the work.
