If You Had a Superpower, What Would it Be?

If I could have a superpower.. this is today's Day 11 topic of the 30-Day Blogging Challenge by @tegoshei.

Judging by the number of times I wished I owned a time machine after saying an idiotic thing in a meeting or making a mistake that I could have rectified if it were possible. **Time Travel **is my superpower of choice.

Time Travel

With all of the horrendous news of what's happening in our government nowadays, I wish I have a time machine to go back to another era. I am tempted to fetch our Philippine national hero, Jose Rizal for a short visit to 2020 in order to lecture and hit the heads of our leaders with his published books. That is, if our present leaders would listen.

Writing what I have just said could get me into trouble with the new laws. All the more I needed a time machine in order to escape.

Where Would I Go?

Merlin welcomes you to the castle in Camelot, Knights of the Round Table

For sure, I'm not going back to the medieval times as much as I want to meet Merlin. For the simple reason that their plumbing was horrible at that time and I can't imagine lifting my long gown to sit in a latrine. 😀

I would most probably visit the 18th Century. Learning the ways of the past, their etiquette, language and manner of upbringing, whichever class they belonged to in society.

The grandeur of the Renaissance is something I would like to experience as well. Nowadays, we only see the remnants of the architecture. Imagine seeing these Renaissance buildings fresh and new in their glory days.

I would love to meet the artists around that time. To sit in their art studios, drink with them, and talk. I would linger to watch them paint and if I'm lucky, even learn from them.

Having said that, there is a historical theme park that I went to in France called Puy du Fou that allows visitors to go back in time and experience it for themselves.

This park also has a World War II bunker where you can enter and re-live the World War II experience. The smell of blood in a dark moldy underground tunnel, the deafening explosions and vibrations, the injured soldiers with torn limbs, the commander who suddenly runs to you ordering you to lead the front for they're running out of men, rats eating corpses, or rats being served for dinner.

Having experienced that short tour of the World War II bunkers made me realize the sacrifices and the horrors of the past. It made me vicariously understand the behaviors of our forefathers and the toll it took on their lives and families.

I could imagine that being able to time travel would similarly affect me, perhaps more profoundly.

I would put a disclaimer though, because I would most definitely avoid the wars when I do time traveling.

I'd most definitely visit the Belle Époque Era in France, the Golden Age, before World War I broke out and then later to the 1920s.

A Woody Allen film called Midnight in Paris captures both scenes where the lead character, Gil travels back in time each midnight. He ends up meeting Scott Fiztgerald, Zelda, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway in a bar with Josephine Baker dancing, during his time travels in the 1920s. Later, he visits the golden age of France where he meets artists Edgar Degas and Paul Gauguin.

I have always been fascinated by the fashion, the architecture and style of these two periods.

Why Travel Back in Time

I will not change anything in the past. (Except probably for something I have said in a meeting) In general, I merely want to live it. Experience it. Books may be able to impart the knowledge of what took place, but I want to capture the essence of everything and experience it first hand. The sights, the sounds, the scent, the tastes of the past.

I could just imagine the conversations with men I could only read about in books. Better yet, with men who were even omitted from history, to listen to their stories and to gain wisdom from them.

I would also like to test myself how easily I could adapt to their lifestyle and how soon will I be able to cope and adjust to the rhythm of their times.

Nostalgia and curiosity.

I have always been living in the past. It's sad but it's the truth. Bottom line is, I need to understand the past in order to appreciate the present.

What about you? Which superpower do you have in mind and why?

Thank you for reading. Check out previous posts if you haven't read them yet and please join us in the 30 Day Blogging Challenge by @tegoshei:

Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8 / Day 9 / Day 10