Ignorance Is Hardly Bliss

"Ignorance is bliss." Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) so casually states while enjoying a luscious bite of digital steak in 1999's blockbuster hit The Matrix. Despite having the knowledge that the world in which he was living was a utopia designed by human-hungry machines, Cypher's words have stuck with me. If I just pretend like I don't have a disease, then maybe I won't have to deal with all that having Cystic Fibrosis entails. That idea works well in theory, but if George Bailey (James Stewart) taught us anything from one of my all-time favorites It's a Wonderful Life (1946), it is that life is difficult, and a person must face and own his demons, which will make him a better individual.

Riding high through high school because everyone knew that I had Cystic Fibrosis and they were okay with that, made college an eye-opening experience. It was in college where I developed relationships with adult motives. When a significant other and I would begin to talk about the future, she would reply, "What future? You can't have kids, and if you could, would you live long enough to help raise them?" Good question. That is something that my ignorant mind never had to deal with in high school. I did not think about that aspect of the future. I was more focused on college graduation and finding a career. The truth is, that girl's concerns were legitimate. I didn't have the answers for her, and we inevitably parted ways. This scenario played out multiple times before I met my current fiance.

"We'll face that bridge when we come to it," is her reply. We have already considered options such as in vitro fertilization or adoption. We still haven't come to that bridge, but it is on the horizon. It is difficult to watch a relationship fall apart because of your inadequacies. If your partner wants a family and you can't produce that, then like so many celebrity marriages, you testify irreconcilable differences and go your separate ways. For awhile, I wondered if that was how my life would turn out - lonely and bleak. Though I adore Edgar Allan Poe's writing, I didn't want to suffer the same end. I maintained my attainable goals and let the rest up to fate. Now, I'm proud to say fate has dealt a hand in my favor.

Although it's so easy to be ignorant, and far less painful, it is not a way of life as Cypher suggests. So, make like Montressor from Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" and confront your problems...just don't wall them up within the catacombs.

~Scott