Crazy Day!

Where were you when the earthquake hit the EAST coast?

The question of the day. I was in a meeting. V. interesting. Much more interesting once the building started shaking and it was like I was on a creepy roller coaster. It wasn't until after it ended that my heart started pounding and the gravity of the ground shaking beneath me started to fit in. Earthquakes are thrilling but certainly not something I would like to invite into my life on a regular basis.

I was up at the awful hour of 2:30am this morning. After too few hours of sleep I was up and after my futile attempts to visit the Sandman again I was driven to a middle of the night movie. After donning my wireless headphones (so as not to wake my sleeping husband) I popped in a dangerous movie: 'P.S. I Love You'.



Oh goodness me. Perhaps I knew I needed a good solid cry-- we all do sometimes. I love watching this movie and save it for desperate and solitary times. Through all the stress and all the pressures of life it always brings me back to several themes I need in my life:

1) Love: this is essential. Love for your partner. Love for your sister, your mother, your father and your friends. Love. The passion that is presented in the first 30 minutes of the film is palpable. Gerard Butler's Gerry loves his heroine passionately. It is evident and it is so intense you can feel it. As Gerry holds Holly, I can feel my own Love hold me. Holly's relationship with her girlfriends and her family are both thematic in my life and I strive to keep the girls and keep mia familia as high priorities in my life.

2) Death: As none of you know, my grandmother passed away in April and I have been struggling with her loss ever since. Far too young, at 66 years old she passed away after fighting with her own body for her whole life. While I understand that for the loved one who has passed there is relief and the benefit of moving into the next life, it is no fun for those left behind. Morbid moments, such as finding letters left behind, painful moments-- working through the physical objects once loved and now meaningless. There are so many poignant moments of death that the film covers it truly hit home.

3) Finding Yourself: Whoa. At the time I picked the movie I hadn't even thought of this aspect of the film (and realizing the struggle of choosing what you'll do with your life, finding your passion, only made me cry more). But it is strong. It wraps up the movie that not only can you survive emotional demolition at the loss of a loved one, you can rethink yourself in way you never thought possible. It brings me back to the innocent and free days of college where I could make my dreams come true by moving to a new city and BAM! I would be there. But the truth hits and it is coming out of that that makes you strong and gives you a fresh perspective on life. I've got hope! Take those leaps of faith and you may actually wind up among those stars! (I am so mixing my metaphors here.)

But I say we should READ more right? I still hold to it friends. The book is an even better journey. A massive tome in comparison to other adapted novels, P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern shows that the film changes some key aspects, but the message is the same: moving on and making it. I do recommend this as a great read and something you will laugh, cry and make a few smiles come across your face.

Cinema thereapy meets a passin for reading. I love those moments don't you?