Quotes of the Day 38: Connection

Aug '24 (edited) • Self Improvement & Motivation

Quote 1: “By ourselves, we’re no one. It’s when other people look at us and see someone–that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was someone, to see them, connect with them. And the two of you were a big part of making it happen.” - Joshua, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance

Quote 2: “Travel far enough and you will meet yourself.” - David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance is the 7th game in the Kingdom Hearts franchise released on March 29, 2012 as a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts Coded and the epilogue to Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. The game focuses on the main protagonist of the franchise, Sora, and another prevalent character, Riku. The two playable characters visit different worlds during their sleep in order to improve their abilities as Keyblade Wielders through the Mark of Mastery exam. There’s honestly too much stuff to explain in this franchise in a single short post, but I’ll try to do something here. The Kingdom Hearts franchise is owned by Disney and since it is owned by Disney, many Disney characters show up which includes and is not limited to Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Pinocchio, Quasimodo, Maleficent and so many more (this list is just based on this singular game, others include Ariel to Buzz Lightyear to Mike Wazowski). In this franchise, people mainly fight against the darkness using weapons called Keyblade (which look just like what they sound like) and in this game, Sora and Riku are assigned the Mark of Mastery exam by Yen Sid (I’m not kidding that’s his name, say it backwards) to improve their abilities to defeat Xenhaort who wants to remake the world in his wishes by conquering the Kingdom Hearts through the creation of Organization XIII and the real Organization XIII (which are different). I’m honestly still confused after writing this.

Joshua, a character seen in Traverse Town who is originally from a different video game entirely called “The World Ends With You”, is seemingly a spirit to the monsters that Sora and Riku face since they only attack “Dreamers” and he isn’t a Dreamer. His quote explains that we exist to those around us and our connections with one another is one of the most important aspects of life. While I disagree with the first line as we are someone by ourselves, I agree that we truly start to exist because of the human connections we share with others which creates our impact on life.

Cloud Atlas is a book written by David Mitchell which was first published on March 1st, 2004. The book combines adventure, mind bending philosophy, puzzles, complex characters and more through Mitchell’s mastery of many different genres. Cloud Atlas follows Adam Ewing in 1850 who is on his way home from the Chatham Isles to California when he is befriended by physician Dr. Goose who treats Ewing for a case of a rare brain parasite. The book then switches to Robert Frobisher in Belgium in 1931 who is a “disinherited bisexual composer” who wants to make a stable family life. The book jumps over to reporter Luisa Rey on the West Coast in the 1970s who finds a string of crimes that threaten her life. Then the book switches over to present (2004) England, the neo-capitalist Korean superstate in the near future and a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii struggling in the last days of history. In a single book, Mitchells connect these characters across time and space to reveal their intertwined fates and souls. I don’t know which of these two is more confusing, the one where Donald Duck helps a little kid with a giant key fight Maleficent or a book that takes place of 200+ years with a postapocalyptic Hawaii and an 1850 brain parasite removal physician named Goose.

Cloud Atlas’s quote in its short singular line explains that we can travel as far as we want around the world to only end up reconnecting with and finding ourselves. No matter who we connect with and how much we change, we will always be ourselves. Put into the context of the book, seemingly unconnected souls whom are split and strewn about in the flow of space time are able to find themselves and one another because of their connections.

I hope that today’s quotes on connections helped you connect with those around you and connected the dots in your life. Have a great day everyone!

Want more? Here are the past 3 quotes of the day posts:

Quotes Of the Day 37: Adaptation

Quotes Of the Day 36: Missing

Quotes Of the Day 35: Live Life Well

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