{"id":10531,"date":"2026-08-23T17:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/?p=10531"},"modified":"2026-08-23T17:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:35:13","slug":"its-a-pirates-life-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/?p=10531","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a Pirate\u2019s Life for Me!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is safe to say that I am a professional overthinker, at least most of the time. For example, I have been overthinking what to write about for 6 out of the 7 days I was given to write this piece, and here I am, finally writing, ironically about the antidote to my life of overthinking and imposter syndrome. The so-called antidote is a character who is the embodiment of improvisation and whimsy, Captain Jack Sparrow, the main character of a movie franchise full of fierce pirates, gigantic ships, magical creatures, cursed treasures and adventures with an intriguing group of characters, that has won the hearts of millions of people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNobody move! I dropped me brain.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the five movies, we never get to see Captain Jack sitting down, ruminating on his thoughts, strategizing over detailed plans and thinking too deep. Despite the demonstrations of his intelligence against the challenges he has to face, he never puts his intellectual capacity into thinking and planning. Therefore, I believe it is safe to say he is definitely the complete opposite of an overthinker. What he does instead is look at the resources within his reach and put it into the best use he can, sometimes he succeeds, and sometimes he does not, miserably. We can witness it whenever he is held in captivity by an army of soldiers, or a band of pirates, or a tribe of cannibals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What drives his spontaneous approach towards life is his whimsical and childlike attitude which is unserious and light. He is not restrained by serious principles or rules or expectations of the society. Even when his life is at stake, whether it is to pay a debt or to be punished for a crime, he never fails to approach it in a whimsical manner. On top of that, his unwavering self-esteem, calling himself a \u201cCaptain\u201d even when he doesn\u2019t have the riches, a crew or a ship to be one is what keeps him going and it is what dragged me out of my constant imposter syndrome of wondering \u201cAm I worthy enough\u201d to have what I have and want. What adds to his nature of spontaneity and improvisation is his compass, the compass that doesn\u2019t point north. It points at whatever he wants. He is simply driven by instinct rather than intellect. In an age where we try to intellectualize and optimize everything, I personally believe his instinct driven nature (in moderation) is the antidote to the rigid nature of modern life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Take what you can and give nothing back.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Even though I glorified Captain Sparrow as an inspiring man of spontaneity, whimsy and self-esteem, he is far from perfect. He is more flawed than half of the characters in the franchise itself. He is addicted to rum, promiscuous with women and most of the time, only looking out for himself. While we can build a better life inspired by his instinct driven nature, we also have to understand the negative attributes of it. The same attitude that gets him ahead of his enemies is the same one that holds him back sometimes, even though it is a life he has chosen for himself. Although he is flawed, the franchise perfectly paints a picture of characters who embody the total opposite of his traits. Will Turner is a man of skills to be a victorious pirate but he chooses a righteous life with the woman he loves. Captain Barbossa is the captain who chooses to consider the long term and have a plan. Davy Jones is the one who became a villain by taking things too seriously and being attached too intensely. Ultimately, contrasting from these characters, Captain Jack Sparrow leads a life of fewer attachments and specific ambitions, rather doing everything for the love of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOne word love: curiosity. You long for freedom. You long to do what you want to do because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it’s like. One day you won’t be able to resist.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When I was a kid, I thought he was fun. As I grew up with the character, I learnt what I could from him and rejected what I don\u2019t believe in. As a person of multiple creative pursuits, I have become better at my craft with the learnt approach of lightness, spontaneity and improvisation, but the real catch was, learning to be more thoughtful and considerate when it comes to big decisions in life and especially personal relationships, because like our Captain Jack Sparrow once said \u201cNot all treasure is silver and gold, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is safe to say that I am a professional overthinker, at least most of the time. For example, I have been overthinking what to write about for 6 out of the 7 days I was given to write this piece, and here I am, finally writing, ironically about the antidote to my life of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124677,"featured_media":10537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[208,209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10531"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10531"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10583,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10531\/revisions\/10583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}