"One Day" at a Time
I just got home from the movies and can't stop thinking about what I saw. I love when that happens.
The movie was called "One Day". It follows a young couple on the same day, July 15, each year starting from when they meet in 1988 all the way up until 2011. It's an interesting concept, and for me, it worked. We see how this man and woman become friends, achieve success, endure struggles, make mistakes, find love. In short, we watch them live and grow (snapshot-style), evolving with each passing year.
Yes, I bought it all. Hook, line and sinker. Without giving anything away, I will say the movie gets you caught up emotionally, enough to punch you in the gut and make you feel it. At one point close to the end, I started to wonder where the film was headed. It is to the movie's credit that I could not guess what was coming after having sat for at least 90 minutes, watching the relationship of these two people unfold. I started to think that heck, this feels alot like life (or at least an intelligent movie version of it).
At the risk of turning into a poor man's Roger Ebert, that is the end of my movie review.
It was not, however, the end of my contemplation. Biking home from the theater, I felt a little tender. Glancing up at the sky, watching the puffy gray clouds float across the darkening blueness just after sunset, I couldn't help but get choked up a little. Drinking in my surroundings was giving me a serious buzz. I felt slightly light-headed, and more-than-slightly grateful. As the previous two hours in the theater had (entertainingly) demonstrated to me, life is just a series of moments, and we never know where, when or how it will end.
Somehow, on my bicycle in that very moment, I felt the urgency of life.
I wondered to myself whether it is ever possible to sustain this feeling of urgency. You know, to be fully present in every moment. To wear my heart on my sleeve and keep it there no matter what I am presented with. To recognize how incredibly fleeting this all really is, and to take that feeling, that strong understanding of life's tenuous grasp, into every moment of every day.
I know, I know. Good luck, right?
So while the feeling is still fresh, here is what I can come up with.
I believe such moments of wonder are the reason to be alive. The times when I can just catch a glimpse of truth from a sunset, or glean some hope from feeling the wind as I ride my bicycle, those are the little things that add up to a whole lot for me. I know we are told "not to sweat the small stuff" here, but maybe we have it all wrong. Could it be that we just don't pay close enough attention to the small stuff that actually matters? Maybe that's it.
Whatever the answer is, I know that this moment too shall pass. But before it does, I am simply going to sit back, bask in its warm glow, and be grateful. I am happy to have a heart, and even happier when I let it loose. I love getting choked up at the small stuff of life, because I am reminded that truly, there isn't much else going on here except using that heart to connect with everyone and everything I come into contact with each day. Kind of like in the movie I just watched where over the years circumstances changed, jobs changed, everything changed. Yet all that really mattered in the end was relationships, making the most of each day, living out life the best we can, and (of course) loving with all our hearts.
That's it. Not only on July 15, but on every other day, too.
The movie was called "One Day". It follows a young couple on the same day, July 15, each year starting from when they meet in 1988 all the way up until 2011. It's an interesting concept, and for me, it worked. We see how this man and woman become friends, achieve success, endure struggles, make mistakes, find love. In short, we watch them live and grow (snapshot-style), evolving with each passing year.
Yes, I bought it all. Hook, line and sinker. Without giving anything away, I will say the movie gets you caught up emotionally, enough to punch you in the gut and make you feel it. At one point close to the end, I started to wonder where the film was headed. It is to the movie's credit that I could not guess what was coming after having sat for at least 90 minutes, watching the relationship of these two people unfold. I started to think that heck, this feels alot like life (or at least an intelligent movie version of it).
At the risk of turning into a poor man's Roger Ebert, that is the end of my movie review.
It was not, however, the end of my contemplation. Biking home from the theater, I felt a little tender. Glancing up at the sky, watching the puffy gray clouds float across the darkening blueness just after sunset, I couldn't help but get choked up a little. Drinking in my surroundings was giving me a serious buzz. I felt slightly light-headed, and more-than-slightly grateful. As the previous two hours in the theater had (entertainingly) demonstrated to me, life is just a series of moments, and we never know where, when or how it will end.
Somehow, on my bicycle in that very moment, I felt the urgency of life.
I wondered to myself whether it is ever possible to sustain this feeling of urgency. You know, to be fully present in every moment. To wear my heart on my sleeve and keep it there no matter what I am presented with. To recognize how incredibly fleeting this all really is, and to take that feeling, that strong understanding of life's tenuous grasp, into every moment of every day.
I know, I know. Good luck, right?
So while the feeling is still fresh, here is what I can come up with.
I believe such moments of wonder are the reason to be alive. The times when I can just catch a glimpse of truth from a sunset, or glean some hope from feeling the wind as I ride my bicycle, those are the little things that add up to a whole lot for me. I know we are told "not to sweat the small stuff" here, but maybe we have it all wrong. Could it be that we just don't pay close enough attention to the small stuff that actually matters? Maybe that's it.
Whatever the answer is, I know that this moment too shall pass. But before it does, I am simply going to sit back, bask in its warm glow, and be grateful. I am happy to have a heart, and even happier when I let it loose. I love getting choked up at the small stuff of life, because I am reminded that truly, there isn't much else going on here except using that heart to connect with everyone and everything I come into contact with each day. Kind of like in the movie I just watched where over the years circumstances changed, jobs changed, everything changed. Yet all that really mattered in the end was relationships, making the most of each day, living out life the best we can, and (of course) loving with all our hearts.
That's it. Not only on July 15, but on every other day, too.
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