Sunday Scribblings: Mystery
Ooh! This one is exciting! Yes. The implication is true. To be completely honest, the last couple of scribblings entries hasn’t been thoroughly riveting. The prompt for this Sunday’s scribbling is “mystery”.
There is something enticing about a mystery. It draws you in and lures you deeper still to wrestle with questions and never give up until an answer surfaces. Mysteries give you alluring clues, much like breadcrumbs followed by young children lost in the dark woods, they make you yearn for more.
I know. I am waxing poetry about the idea of mysteries.
I love mysteries. I love mystery novels. I love mystery movies (even if they were Disney Channel original movies). I love detective crime shows. I throw murder mystery parties. I troll YouTube for weird mysteries - I love escape rooms and solving puzzles, big or small. And, honestly, I feel like that last statement was an understatement. On the floor of my bedroom at my mum’s place, there’s a precariously tall stack of Agatha Christie novels. I had a three-month period last year where I engulfed Agatha Christie novels like they were Tic-Tacs. I couldn’t get enough! I own and carry with me always Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection. (Before your eyes start bugging out of their sockets, I have the tome in e-book format, to my muscles’ relief.) I grew up going through Nancy Drew novels and watching Scooby Doo cartoons.
I was trying to pinpoint my favorite mystery story, but I hit a wall. I wasn’t able to choose just one. I have a few mysteries that have a special place in my heart. The first one is The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie. It’s a Miss Marple mystery, but I was just so fascinated with the story. I couldn’t put the book down! I got so involved with the characters too. Another favorite is another Agatha Christie one, Death Comes as the End. I like the fact that it was set in ancient Egypt. So interesting! The third one would be Endless Night, again by the famous Agatha Christie. I also love reading Sherlock Holmes stories. Confession time: I actually also really enjoy reading Dan Brown novels. Conspiracy theories and puzzles and adventure? Yes, please.
Why do people like mysteries?
After some on and off reflection time, I would say that I gravitate towards mystery stories because they end with solutions, wrapped, nicely tied with a bow. I’d say that the solution is an important element of the mystery story. The solution needs to exist, and it needs to make sense. Extra points if the solution involves an out-of-the-box plot twist that is unpredictable even to the most seasoned mystery-lover. These stories come with solutions. I like puzzles because puzzles can be solved if you only find the right solution or the right algorithm.
Not like real life. Or real relationships. Or real people.
Life is the real mystery. There are questions that I may never ever have answers for. And I’m supposed to move on with my life knowing that a question is left unanswered, like a lonely sock in the wash separated fro its mate by the complicated process of laundry. Some relationships end without so much of a closure. And people. Where do we start with people? Do they really mean what they say? Do they say what they mean? Can we trust them? Can we trust ourselves around them? Even after knowing someone for years, or even becoming best friends with them, is there more to learn about them? How do you really know someone?
Real-life is a mystery without solutions to satisfy our cravings for a good, hearty resolution. We go from one mystery to another to another. We end up walking through life with more questions than answers. And what makes it even more complicated is the fact that we’re supposed to move on even without any semblance of closure.
That’s why I like mystery novels and movies and tv-series and games. I guess it’s my control freak tendency to want all questions to be answered, all locks unlocked, all problems solved. I might not be good at Math, but I understand why some people love it and call it elegant. Math has solutions. There are right answers and wrong answers. And if you know the formula or the concept, you can come up with the right answers. It’s the same with my love for mystery stories. There are correct solutions and wrong ones. We just need to find clues and keep solving them until the mystery is unraveled. I like mystery novels because I can’t solve the real-life mysteries.
Don’t even get me started on the mysteries of the human mind and the human heart. It befuddles me to think about my mind and my emotions, not to mention trying to fumble through life hoping to God that I can decipher others’ thoughts and feelings. Even the idea of it makes me just a tad tired. Let me stick with my perfectly crafted mystery stories.
For the longest time now, my email signature would always include this quote from one of my favorite novels:
A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. (A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens)
Isn’t that true? Every human creature is a profound secret and mystery to every other. One of the most courageous and altogether baffling phenomena is human relationships. We crave it. We don’t really want to function without it. But it confuses us. How do we interact with walking and talking mysteries? Will we ever be comfortable enough with not fully understanding?
No. I’m not discouraging human relationships. As I mentioned earlier, we crave it. I do too. But how do we manage to live with the mystery? Can we learn to love the mystery? Can we learn to live with the question without expecting any form of answers?
Is it worth the cost?
It’s a mystery to me.
July 5, 2020
