Lily's Memoirs

… Or, is it worth it?
As has been broadcast, I am participating in a science endeavor. The cost of which has already been excessively high (by some counts). In desperation, we turned to the public to try to get more support. It was helpful, but ultimately, not enough. We’ll need more ethercles, which we’ll be spending the next zodiac collecting.

The Nature of Science
That aside, this got me thinking. As experiments get more complex, they become more costly. Either in time, patience, materials, or some combination of the previous listed. ‘Scientists’ (and I use this term openly, as I do not consider science to be under the realm of just Mystics, though I do see an affinity toward science in Mystics) need to build off the work that came before them, and not ignore it. Especially if the question has not been answered for years. Sometimes that proves difficult due to the secret nature of some organizations.

We have a mentality in Puddleby that discovering things for one self is beneficial. This, I believe, has strong merit. There is, of course, in my mind, a balance that must be maintained. This is my view, and I’m happy to discuss it, but as it is, sometimes people disagree and feel that every journey should be entirely self-discovery. It slows me down periodically, but not to such a degree that it’s damaging. At least not to date (as far as I know!).

With this in mind, it’s important to note that it takes a great deal of strength – physical, mental, and spiritual – to keep trying after things keep failing. In this, I honor my predecessors for their tenacity and cooperation. Our world is a harsh one with very few allies, and trying to make sense of it while dealing with the overwhelming hatred that comes naturally to our enemies is not something to be taken lightly. These are not easy conditions we work under, and it’s a constant struggle to make any sort of headway. Just take what’s happening in the Eastern Mountains. Captain Stinkfist, while I hold reservations about the man, is acting as an advocate for science while combining his power and influence with that of interested parties as they attempt to discern what the mystery of the mountains is. There are constant setbacks, from the reports I hear, and they regularly have to take extra time to recover from an onslaught of attacks from enemies. Their dedication is commendable, and I applaud them for it.

The sacrifices we make, be it time, energy, resources, or patience, are all valuable. I will never accept it when someone feels they are wasting their time (or if someone is accused of wasting their time). We have a long history of unlikely heroes, and no one is wasting their time. You never know what might be the right idea.

The Actual Price
On the subject of sacrifice, it is a very fitting idea that I use there. It is a sacrifice, especially since it may be all for naught. Decades ago, an adventurous group of Thooms who traveled into Lugubrion’s Keep when there was no other known way used a kyuem in an attempt to make a discovery. It was for naught. Kyuems are expensive. It is not something you can really shrug off when you place one for nothing to come of it. Yet that group tried, and gave it their all. This was a huge sacrifice, monetarily. Not to mention the time and energy required to gather the materials, create the kyuem, and deliver it to the Keep for construction.

miss Whirl wind and miss Harper spent years working to figure out what was going on up on the Cloud with little to no success, constant discouragement, and no headway. I know for a fact that they both came close to giving up multiple times, but managed to keep each other going.

One of the toughest prices we pay for our endeavors in science is our willpower. Our energy. Our patience. There comes a point where we run out of ideas, though that might be more because we’ve run out of the will to fail again. It’s these times that are the most crucial. It’s these times that we need our community to remind us why we are trying so hard. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances surrounding the predicament, we can hardly be expected to ask for that kind of support.

I mostly say this out of empathy for a dear friend of mine, at this point, but I feel it applies to anyone who has ever attempted to discover some aspect about our lives in this rather cruel land of Lok’Groton.

Remember that your ideas are neither dumb, nor are they unwanted. They may have been thought of before, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build on the idea more in ways others hadn’t. Support your scientists, be it publicly or privately. Be it big or small endeavors.

To answer my own question… For me, it’s worth it. I’ll keep striving for more.