Baby sister and pregnancies

Okay, this time I promise I'll cut back on all of the film talk. I know I'm the only one that's ever as excited about that stuff as I am. But you have to realize it's what I'm most passionate about in life. If I lose film and film-making, I'm lost. There's no Plan B. Luckily, there's other things I've been wanting to talk about but haven't gotten around to it.

First thing's first. Babies. They're everywhere lately. First, the happy side of them.

My mom just had a baby last week, so I have a new baby sister, Angelina Monique Felix. Half sister, if we're being technical. I love her the same though, so the title doesn't mean anything. But she looks a lot like my mom, and since I look a lot like my mom then we'll end up looking alike. The part that makes me upset is that I can't be around her much. I don't even know how long it will be before I actually meet her. You see, my mother lives in Texas with her boyfriend/baby's-daddy while I live in Arizona with my dad (who by the way still doesn't know about the baby so if you see him don't say anything). But I'm hoping that during the holiday season I can make the trip out there and see her and hold her and take in all that new baby smell. Before I move on, here's some pictures of her. I find myself staring at them for a long time. She doesn't seem real sometimes. She's such a new person.

Click to enlarge.





On the subject of babies is new pregnancies. In the span of a week I found out two of my friends are pregnant. Naturally, my first thought was to congratulate them. But in all honesty, I felt more like saying "I'm sorry" than "congratulations". I mean, what did they do to deserve congratulations? They did what their bodies are biologically designed to do. They reproduced. Plants and animals do that. We don't go around saying "congratulations for creating another generation in your species" to them, do we? The truth is, I'm half-disappointed in them for a few reasons.

Although I'm no tree hugger, I do realize that there is a resource scarcity. At the most basic level, we can't ignore that there are a hell of a lot more people in the world that are poor, starving, and unhealthy that there are that are wealthy, well fed, and healthy. So why is there the need to add more people to the problem, when instead we could be doing something for those already in need? It's irresponsible if you ask me.

Second, I am disappointed because apparently I had loftier goals for these ladies than they had for themselves. I forget sometimes that not everybody is aspiring to greatness like I am. But especially with one of these new mothers, I always saw so much potential for more than she is going to accomplish. I saw so much potential for a grand and important career, instead of a life as a mother and housewife. Her time will be consumed with raising a child and her potential will go with it. There's still a chance she'll prove me wrong, but being realistic, I don't think that'll happen, and it saddens me. I love this girl to death and support her, but I am truly disappointed.

With all this pregnancy talk I started asking myself, "why do people even feel the urge to have kids?" After thinking about it, I think it's for a few reasons.

First I think there is a strong religious aspect. If I remember correctly, the Bible says pretty early on that "God" wanted mankind to populate the Earth. Therefore, people feel that is their duty to have babies and make more humans so they can make God happy. A religious rant aside, I disagree. It's human and biological nature that humans want to reproduce. Every living organism on the planet does what they can to keep their species alive, humans included. There's nothing holy about it.

Then there's the emotional part of it. Parents feel a connection to their offspring that is hard to match in any other relationship. So instead of adopting some other kid from a third world country that needs a glass of water and a sandwich a day to survive, people would rather form an emotional attachment to a child with their own genes who they'll gladly fatten up with junk food and TV watching. Again, I think this is selfish and irresponsible to do. I don't like it, but I understand it. As stated above, I have my own emotional investment in a certain baby girl. I wouldn't trade her for a million starving children. But if I had the choice, I'd rather take one of those than have my own.

The third point is a combo of the two, which is family preservation. People want to keep their lineage going. They want their legacy to be their family. I think this stems from a religious point-of-view. There's so much emphasis in the Bible about ancestors and royal lineages that people again think it's their Godly duty to have a long lineage. We didn't descend from Adam folks, we came from caveman, and before that monkeys, and before that a single cell organism. In a few million years, the Earth will be engulfed by the Sun and our lineages will mean nothing. Or, if we keep believing in gods, we'll end up blowing ourselves up in a nuclear holocaust and then our lineages won't matter. Either way, they don't matter. You want to leave a legacy? Don't have kids and dedicate yourselves to making a difference in the world. You want to know the only true immortal legacy? History. Make a mark in history and you'll be remembered forever no matter who your parents were or who your children might be.

Okay, I've gone on further than I wanted to. I'll leave this rant here. Still stuff on my list of things to write about, but I'll leave them for next chapter. Thanks for listening. Leave me comments, let's start a dialogue.