This is one of those rare posts on my blog; the rarity of which keep the word "musings" out of my blog title (not saying that my blog title is terribly original, but the very thought of two words in particular as part of my blog title makes me cringe, "random" being the other). So yes, this time around, I choose to muse. This is also where I issue a formal spoiler alert for Up in the Air, which I saw last night.
I have to admit, I liked the movie. I can't quite call it a "feel-good" movie, because it doesn't exactly end on the happiest note. Rather, it ends on a hopeful note. Having said that, the movie carries you along quite beautifully, probably because of a very simple storyline. I won't go so far to say that it's one of the best movies of our time, but it is definitely one of those movies that get you thinking. So as I sat there and cruised through the movie, my thought process started wandering in a direction which may or may not have been the intention of the movie-maker.
At various points of time in my life, whilst having the odd conversation or two, with the odd friend or two, I have found myself discovering their struggle against their hardships. In some cases, they seem trivial; generated by their own needlessly complicated perception of the situation. In other cases, it really seemed like life had dealt them a really bad hand at the given time. During some of these conversations, I have been stuck in a complex rut of my own; which is when these conversations have had the deepest impact. Watching these people fighting out much harder battles than my own and eventually winning them, has been a constant source of hope. The awe and the hope notwithstanding, these conversations have quite often also filled me with dread and trepidation. When I hear these experiences, a strange realization hits me in the face like a ton of bricks. Things could be much worse than they are right now. A question stares me in the face- if I'm finding it hard to bear the situation now, do I have what it takes to fight it out when things become worse?
Last night, I watched sequences depicting people getting fired and reacting to it. I wasn't surprised when I later found out that the people in these scenes were people who had recently been fired because of the recession (found the fact here), given that the emotions seemed so genuine. As I watched those sequences exposing how vulnerable your life is, I found myself thinking, "At some point of time in my life, that could be me". And the same question plagued me again. If I woke up tomorrow with bills to pay and a family to feed with no conceivable way of doing it, would I have what it takes to fight? I was reminded of my own father just over a decade ago when things had hit rock bottom. I saw him at home when I came back from school, every single day for the three months that he was unemployed. Not once did I see his spirit falter. He picked himself up, dusted the dirt off and at the end of that struggle, found himself the best job he'd ever had. Can I do the same if I'm faced with the same?
What is the point I'm trying to make?
That the first thing I want to do with my life is to know that it's vulnerable and yet not be fazed by it. I want to get rid of the "that could be me" fear. That makes my backpack a lot lighter.
I have to admit, I liked the movie. I can't quite call it a "feel-good" movie, because it doesn't exactly end on the happiest note. Rather, it ends on a hopeful note. Having said that, the movie carries you along quite beautifully, probably because of a very simple storyline. I won't go so far to say that it's one of the best movies of our time, but it is definitely one of those movies that get you thinking. So as I sat there and cruised through the movie, my thought process started wandering in a direction which may or may not have been the intention of the movie-maker.
At various points of time in my life, whilst having the odd conversation or two, with the odd friend or two, I have found myself discovering their struggle against their hardships. In some cases, they seem trivial; generated by their own needlessly complicated perception of the situation. In other cases, it really seemed like life had dealt them a really bad hand at the given time. During some of these conversations, I have been stuck in a complex rut of my own; which is when these conversations have had the deepest impact. Watching these people fighting out much harder battles than my own and eventually winning them, has been a constant source of hope. The awe and the hope notwithstanding, these conversations have quite often also filled me with dread and trepidation. When I hear these experiences, a strange realization hits me in the face like a ton of bricks. Things could be much worse than they are right now. A question stares me in the face- if I'm finding it hard to bear the situation now, do I have what it takes to fight it out when things become worse?
Last night, I watched sequences depicting people getting fired and reacting to it. I wasn't surprised when I later found out that the people in these scenes were people who had recently been fired because of the recession (found the fact here), given that the emotions seemed so genuine. As I watched those sequences exposing how vulnerable your life is, I found myself thinking, "At some point of time in my life, that could be me". And the same question plagued me again. If I woke up tomorrow with bills to pay and a family to feed with no conceivable way of doing it, would I have what it takes to fight? I was reminded of my own father just over a decade ago when things had hit rock bottom. I saw him at home when I came back from school, every single day for the three months that he was unemployed. Not once did I see his spirit falter. He picked himself up, dusted the dirt off and at the end of that struggle, found himself the best job he'd ever had. Can I do the same if I'm faced with the same?
What is the point I'm trying to make?
That the first thing I want to do with my life is to know that it's vulnerable and yet not be fazed by it. I want to get rid of the "that could be me" fear. That makes my backpack a lot lighter.
2 comments:
Brilliant Siddharth.....your post comes at a crucial moment in my life :P I am keeping this as my statis msg for a while :)
:D Thanks a ton! You do realize that the post also appears at a crucial moment for me :P
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