ಠ_ಠ

I don’t dance, and I am not a droid.

For as much as I may tire of being asked if I am or was a slave, dancer, ‘entertainer’, or what have you, it never quite reaches the level of mild annoyance that hearing, “Jedi are emotionless droids” manages to hit.

I understand from where the former comes. I am, after all, Twi’lek, and it is most common to see others of my kind in positions of, well, slavery, dancing, ‘entertaining’, or something otherwise borderline criminal.
I know this and accept this, and am not offended by the misconceptions or assumptions of others, though I would think that the robes and lightsaber would give them a bit of a hint.

Still, I cannot fault them for making a presumption that is, more often than not, true of Twi’lek.

To a degree, I understand how those outside the Order might get the mistaken impression that Jedi are “emotionless”. Many people, whether they’re aware of it or not, make a good portion of their decisions based on emotion, which is fickle, and can be dangerous. Jedi—it’s inaccurate to say that we do not, we are people, after all, and prone to having missteps now and again, but we do try to remove personal emotion from the equation in terms of decision making.
Many times, poor choices are made, as the cliche goes, ‘in the heat of the moment’; to put that another way, poor choices tend to be made based on emotion, and not logical, rational thought. 

Emotional attachments, which everyone has to some degree (Jedi or not), can also be a dangerous influence on decision making, which is why we’re meant to keep them from forming in the first place.
It allows to make a decision based on logic and rationality. In that sense, I suppose a droid comparison is apt, however it does not mean that we are emotionless or void of feeling. 

That, I’ve always believed, is impossible to do completely. There will always be some level of attachment to those with whom one works closely. Masters are frequently attached, at least to the degree of being protective of, their own Padawan. The reverse is often true. 
I’ve often thought that that level of attachment has been overlooked or disregarded as it’s entirely impossible to do away with when one is working with sentient beings over droids—and even then, I’ve seen droids with modules installed that allow them some level of attachment and loyalty to their fellow droids.
In that sort of case, it seems to be more a matter of controlling the level of control that attachment is able to exert over one’s self than anything else. 

When I hear Initiates or, worse, Padwans or even those who have been granted the title of Jedi speak about how they feel Jedi are emotionless, droids, ‘dead’, and things of that nature, I will admit that it does sting; my first, base reaction, is to correct them rather harshly. Fortunately, I am more than capable of not reacting in such an inappropriate manner, and either gently correct the misconception or simply let it slide.

We are people.
We do have emotions, we simply strive to keep them in check so they don’t overrun our lives and decision making processes. 

• 12 April 2012
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