The things you see aren’t always what you think they are. You may not understand them, you may think it’s weird and incoherent; it may leave you puzzled. But then afterwards, when you’re able to put things in perspective, everything falls in place. Watch this film and watch it until the end to find out why a step backwards can in fact prove to be a step forward. And why it will put a smile on your face.
This film moved me. It’s about an older man looking back on his life in hurt. It’s a sad reflection, yet warm, inspirational and uplifting at the same time. For it concludes with a wonderful quote by Charlie Chaplin saying: “Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles”. To me a reminder that the world indeed can be a wicked place, for happiness isn’t permanent. But in the end the same goes for sorrow. Clinging on happiness or sadness? No, let go, for life is an ongoing flow.
Unless you’re drunk, it’s easy to walk straight. But when you’re blindfolded, or when you have no visual point of reference like the sun or a mountaintop, something funny happens: although you think you’re walking straight, you are doomed to walk in circles. And so a blindfold is a nice metaphor for unawareness. Being unaware may lead you to believe you’re walking straight, going from A to B, while in fact you’re going in (the same) circles over and over. Being aware is like putting the blindfold off, giving you the ability to really see where you’re going and to make conscious choices accordingly.
I’ve seen this film a few times and still I love watching it. It’s about Christoph Rehage who, after a year of planning, set out to walk from China to his home country Germany. Between November 9th 2007 and November 13th 2008 he walked roughly 2796 miles, passed the Gobi desert, but then he decided to stop walking. Or as he describes it: “I got a haircut, shaved off my beard, and took a plane home”. He walked about one third of the initial way, from day one (his 26th birthday) until the downfall about a year later. The reason for his journey, or why he stopped walking aren’t very clear (even to himself) and it doesn’t really matter. He got as far as he got and gained an experience for which he says he’s very grateful. ‘The journey is the destination’, as I wrote in this post. On his website he concludes by giving us some nice piece of advice: “It doesn’t matter what dream you choose to follow, as long as you have one. Go follow your dream, and laugh while you’re doing it!”
So here’s the third and final film by those three guys you were able to see here and here earlier. They set out on the trip of a life time or as they described it: “3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… All to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films”. Well, in my opinion they succeeded greatly. This last film is about food and a reminder of the richness life has to offer when it comes to food (and choosing our daily meals).
In life we can learn millions of things, but the ‘time is money culture’ urges us to make choices. And so it’s more likely we invest our time in learning things that we need to learn, rather than in things that are just nice or fun. It’s the difference between learning new computer software for work versus learning how to ride the back of an elephant for just that moment. But that would all change if you were to set out on a journey around the world, having all the time in the world. Wouldn’t it? In this film we see a guy traveling, learning from whatever and whoever comes on his path. In every shot he’s in a different learning situation, in a different part of the world. His motivation to learn is not because it’s beneficial to his daily life or career. Nor is he learning to master any of these things. No, it’s the process of learning what it is all about. Because that will let him discover more about the local people, traditions and craftsmanships and so about life. American author Lloyd Alexander once said: “We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” This film by the way, is only a part of his journey. I posted another part called ‘Move’ some time ago, you can see it here. And you can watch the third and final part ‘Eat’ here. Enjoy.
Lady GaGa gave an interview recently in which she said: “(…) I really encourage people to look into the darkness and look into places that you would not normally look to find uniqueness and specialness because that’s where the diamonds are hiding”. Beautiful words, worth to look into: standing in the light is associated with being good, talented and living according valuable virtues. Shadows on the other hand are defined as the dark side of things (for example our personality). We try hard to be known for our qualities and try even harder to hide our weaknesses. Understandable maybe, but in doing so we forget that no one is all good or all bad. Nobody’s perfect, light and shadow go together. To emphasize this, I often use this phrase: “If you don’t have a shadow, you’re not standing in the light”. In other words: stop stressing trying to be perfect, embrace your shadows, for they complete you. This film offers you a playful view on shadows, portraying them not as your frightening ‘dark side’, but as a cute, colorful, fun loving part of you, following every move you make.