Hello, and welcome to Maggie's weekly thought spiral. Today's match is between the brave and beautiful Princess Snowbird and the one and only, lonely Nietzsche.
Years ago, in that strange and mysterious time known as high school, a younger Maggie read a series about aliens. To give the author her due, the first novel is called Obsidian and is by Jennifer Armentrout. The series was one of of my favorites, so don't judge the cringy cover and description if you actually look it up. It actually gets into some pretty interesting topics about humanity and if it's worth saving. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I also emailed Armentrout to ask her about writing advice (and to fan girl) at one point and she wrote me a kind email in return, so she holds a special place in my heart. Anywayyy, back to my point.
Near the beginning of the series, the narrator is told of a legend about a woman named Princess Snowbird. When I remembered her story, I looked her up, so a lot of the following info is what I found. (I've attached the link to the blog I read below.) Princess Snowbird wintered in the Seneca Caverns in West Virginia and was the daughter of Chief Bald Eagle and his wife, White Rock. Not only was she the only child of the chief, she was a woman of both great beauty and great courage. Often, she would climb the Seneca Rocks, "900 feet of vertical stone," and she was the only person able to do so with just her hands (Mountainword blog). When it eventually came time for her to choose a husband — ughhh, why couldn't she lead by herself??? *sigh* — she decided to test the men who wanted her hand. After all, she wanted a man equal to herself to lead! She declared that she would marry the man who successfully climbed the Seneca Rocks with her. Out of seven suitors who began the climb with her, eventually one was left. However, with only a few feet until he reached the summit, Princess Snowbird looked back to see the man slipping. She felt conflicted. Should she save the man? Should she marry him even though he wouldn't have made it on his own? Thankfully, she decided to save and marry the brave man. After all, his bravery had led him thus far, and strengths come in all shapes and forms. Not long after, the chief married the happy couple, and Princess Snowbird had someone to co-lead with her.
On page 417 of Basic Writings of Nietzsche, as part of "What is Noble" from Beyond Good and Evil, in aphorism 286, Nietzsche proposes:
""Here the vision is free, the spirit exalted."
But there is an opposite type of man that is also on a height and also has free vision—but looks down."
This short aphorism brought me all the way back to Princess Snowbird and her internal conflict. Thankfully, she decided that to be her equal did not mean that the man needed to reach the peak by himself. His bravery and determination were enough for her, and what would it say about her if she just let him fall? Snowbird found a happy medium. In thinking about Nietzsche, it seems like he is never content with a "happy medium." I don't think he would be one to compromise either... Why can't a person look up and down? Why can't they be aware of the freedom of a good view but also be aware of the dangerous drop below? I think either end of the spectrum has its drawbacks. One should always be aware of context, of different perspectives. I might be too harsh on Nietzsche here, but I think that he would have benefitted from letting himself have companions who did not think exactly the same way that he did. He might have had more friends if he, like Princess Snowbird, had recognized people's different strengths.
Blog post about Princess Snowbird: http://wordsfromthemountains.blogspot.com/2009/05/legend-of-princess-snowbird.html
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