Sometimes You Need More Than Just Words

Joshua Tree National Park Elmer Tree (Yucca brevifolia); Desert Queen Valley  NPS Photo by Robb Hannawacker.

Joshua Tree National Park
Elmer Tree (Yucca brevifolia); Desert Queen Valley
NPS Photo by Robb Hannawacker.

Noon approaches on Sunday morning and I am back at the computer listening to Abbey Road.

Kids are downstairs fighting about who should be doing homework and who should be watching televisions but for the moment I am ignoring them, giving them time to work it out because no one will be happy if I am forced to insert myself.

HBO has been showing The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It is like a handful of other movies like Walk The Line, Casablanca and The Godfather that stop me in my tracks.

The select few are movies that touched pieces and parts of me, each for different reasons but all remind me of the need to do my best to live my dreams and not dream my life.

I sit here trying to think of the right words to use while George Harrison sings Something and I smile because this song tells a story and that is what I am meant to do with my life.

Tell stories.

But you can’t tell the kind of stories I want to tell without really living and that is a big part of what I love about Mitty. It is a huge tale and even if you hate the actor or think the movie is awful you can get lost in the scenery.

Sometimes You Need More Than Just Words

Sometimes it doesn’t matter what words you use because they aren’t enough. I don’t know if I can really tell you what I see inside my head or what I am feeling inside my heart now so I have some clips to share with you because sometimes you need more than just words.

Every time and I see these clips I think about they are constructed and think about the stories I want to tell. I ask what is holding things up and wonder how much is fear and how much is inertia.

No one wants to be the fool but storytelling requires a suspension of fear.

Life Is Where You Make It

The kids have worked things out and quiet has been restored to the house. It is hard not to smile because as I listened to them negotiate their terms I could tell some of what we have taught them has sunk in.

Small victories lead to bigger ones.

Last night the family went to a Bar Mitzvah.

It was a beautiful house and a beautiful party thrown by some dear friends but not everyone who attended was a fan of Old Jack Steiner. One man could barely contain his contempt for my thoughts and ideas.

For a moment I considered telling him I think he is a pompous windbag who defines shallow but decided it might be more fun to make up some silly stories.

Mostly it was because he didn’t have the decency to hide his feelings or to try and excuse himself from the conversation he inserted himself into.

Perhaps it was a good thing he couldn’t see the film playing inside my head. I suspect he would have been shocked to find out what I really thought, but none of that really matters.

That is just another moment I’ll try to use to become a better storyteller.

I am too busy planning a trip to Iceland and thinking about all of the other places I intend to visit. Might be a while before I get to them but I will because those experiences are part of living life and not dreaming it.

I don’t listen to the critics because there will always be people who splash cold water on our dreams. Better to be the person who blazes the trail than the one who fears to step off of it because they don’t know how to think for themselves.

Life is where you make it and not just where people tell you to live.

“Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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4 Comments

  1. Larry October 12, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    As you may remember, I really like the basic message in Walter Mitty as well. Can any guy not watch at least a few minutes of The Godfather when they flip past it. I don’t think so.

  2. Julie October 12, 2014 at 11:56 am

    That is exactly how I felt driving on the left with my hands over my eyes, and passing the goats on the way up the unpaved mountain, not so sure there was a way to turn around and get down. Life should be an adventure.

    • The JackB October 13, 2014 at 11:08 am

      @JulieAClearSign:disqus If it was as beautiful as the scenery in Mitty than it sounds like something truly worth seeing, not to mention the adventure that comes with knowing there is no going back.

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