The Trick Question.

Chemistry. Are you any good? 

Ba + Na2 = ?

This was a hard question for me because "Ba" is for Barium and "Na" is for Sodium. Barium is under the category of alkaline earth metals and Sodium is under the category of alkali metals, which to me, doesn't help at all. I tried thinking of the concept of acid and base, but still nothing came up. It's even more frustrating because I know I was good at Chemistry, it's just the equation just didn't make sense to me.

Well, of course it didn't make sense because I didn't realize this wasn't Chemistry, this was basic logic: 

Ba + Na2 = BaNaNa

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Banana. How could I not thought of that? That's the problem, I didn't thought of that. I was too caught up with all the theories and the rules taught in Chemistry classes that I forgot to play around with the equation, to see it from a different angle so that the equation actually made sense. And we do that a lot, don't we? We create characters that are bound by the rules, bound by the basics, bound by the traditions. We write stories about same old dragons and elves and werewolves in the same old evil-dark-forest. We dig in the world of pretty young girls building their careers in fashion design the city of New York instead of maybe telling the story of a dyslexic teenager trying to make her way to be the President of USA, which is to the common people, something impossible. 

I don't blame the basics, I love the basics. I think stories about uptown girls living in New York, their summer love affairs in LA, these regular characters, typical people we see on TV series and in our daily lives, I think they're fascinating. I think these characters and stories help us understand our surroundings better, give us a better picture about other people and their lives. But every once in a while we have to break all the rules and write stories about people we have never heard before, explore the world we have never been to before, because this is what keeps the literary world alive. They say rules are made to be broken, and that's probably true, because I don't see the fun in Chemistry but I see tons of adventure awaiting in Creativity. 

Sometimes we have to let go, let our minds imagine outside of the box. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's not, but that's the trick question. The only way to find out is to give it a shot. Write fearlessly and we'll see.