What would Aragorn do?

“What would Aragorn do?”

Warning: NERD ALERT

Just so we’re clear, I know Aragorn isn’t real. The Orcs, Mordor, Sauron, etc. they’re all just metaphors.

We base a lot of our perception on stories and fictions and ideas, though, don’t we? We do. Hence, “WWJD”. J-man probably did exist, but to what extent do we really know “the story”? Not much.

So, in general, why not wonder what would Aragorn do?

I’ve realized recently, especially this week, that this is actually a sincere question I use to guide myself.

I suppose there are three main traits which stand out about Aragorn:

1: He has a tried and true sense of how to both take care of himself and his world.

2: His commitment to rise to whatever occasion is before him is without question.

3: And, perhaps most importantly, he cuts through the bullshit.

Maybe the simplest way to summarize this is to say, in a phrase, he knows REAL beauty. He knows beauty not as an abstraction, not as a superficiality, and not as something which has to be fought for.

He knows beauty as a foundation of life, and his code, his commitment, and his capacity to use his sword are all grounded in this awareness.

There’s truly nothing complicated about it, we seemingly just don’t yet know how to appreciate such raw simplicity. On so many levels, we’ve organized ourselves both as a result of overthinking things, and with the idea that it is our primary job to do so.

As such, we tolerate excesses and absurdities, because can, because we have the capacity to do so, the “freedom”, but mostly because we truly just don’t yet accept how simple life really is.

There is so little I am sure of, so little I am willing to say that I know absolutely, but in this short list is, without a doubt, the awareness that we do not need to continue to live as a confused and conflicted and chaotic animal.

We just don’t.

Maybe we did for a time, to learn, but now, we don’t.

And, I suspect, we won’t.

We’re ready for real beauty.

…Just to begin... he would work toward the greater good, help his fellow travelers, protect his friends, and follow love!