Dante's Inferno - Divine Romedy

I went back home last weekend, after a LONG period of time. And naturally, with my brother being home, we brought our XBox out of hibernation. One game which I particularly enjoyed playing was Dante's Inferno. Okay. I'll admit it. I'm a big fan of redemption storylines (Jaime from GoT, or Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars) . Good guys are good, but bad guys going good is even better. So when you get this crusader who has just returned from the Holy War and is willing to go through the nine circles of hell to redeem himself and save his beloved, it is hard not to side with him.
Dante, on his return to Acre, finds his wife and father murdered and is soon stabbed by an assassin thereafter. Unable to comprehend the fact that he would be going to hell (the bishop left that part out of the contract), Dante battles Death itself and claims his scythe (yep. Death's dead). He then goes to the church to claim his wife's cross, and falls into hell to begin his journey.
Guided by Virgil, Dante begins his descent into the circles of hell. Throughout his journey he meets people he knows, such as his father (Greed) and his mother (Violence). Beatrice, who has tasted the forbidden fruit is now with Lucifer, and unable to find a way to free her Dante agrees to take her place in hell. This sacrifice absolves Beatrice, leaving Dante free to face Lucifer and finish his fight. After defeating Lucifer in a fierce battle, Dante's soul is absolved by the souls he freed, and he is carried to paradise with Beatrice. A happy ending.
Facing our sins, and more importantly our fears, is something we all run from. But sooner or later (and hopefully it won't need a journey to the underworld) we will have to face them. The reason why redemption stories are so close to my heart is because even though we may not be able to control the circumstances or change the past, what we can control is the present and what we choose to do with it.

Turbulence and fear of flying

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to poor weather conditions the captain has turned on the seat belt signal. Kindly return to you seats and fasten your seatbelts. Use of washrooms is now prohibited"

Every time I fly, I dread looking up at the ceiling and finding that the "fasten seat belts" sign has been turned on. For some reason turbulence in aircrafts really freaks me out - no matter how big or small, whenever the ride gets bumpy I close my eyes, clench my fists and listen to music at attrociously high volumes. And it is not the shakes that really get to me - it's the feeling that you're falling when the aircraft loses altitude.

I've researched this on the internet and have read several points that point to the fact that I am probably overthinking -

• Aircrafts are built to take a terrible amount of punishment - it would take more than a gust of air to knock the aircraft out of the air.
• Even if an aircraft's engines shut down, it can glide for quite a while and can attempt an emergency landing
• Turbulence is totally normal and pilots are prepared for it beforehand
• Air travel is the safest form of travel - you are more likely to die in a car accident than in a plane crash

Even though my "research" has helped me calm my nerves down a bit, I still do get that adrenaline rush whenever I encounter turbulence - thanks to which I can't sleep in flights either. I think it is more of a control thing - the fact that I am cruising 30,000 feet in the air in the metal container which is being driven by 2 people and in whose motion I have no say whatsoever is probably what gets to me.

It is getting better with each flight though. I'll just have to put my faith in science and technology.

Oh, and yes. The one song that reminds me the most of my fears is "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we're in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.
Well don't go around tonight,
Well it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.