WILD, is in select theaters now. Director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club), Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon and Academy Award nominated screenwriter Nick Hornby (An Education) bring bestselling author Cheryl Strayed’s extraordinary adventure to the screen. After years of reckless behavior, a heroin addiction and the destruction of her marriage, Strayed makes a rash decision. Haunted by memories of her mother Bobbi (Academy Award nominee Laura Dern) and with absolutely no experience, she sets out to hike more than a thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail all on her own. WILD powerfully reveals her terrors and pleasures –as she forges ahead on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her.
Though I’m not taking an actual physical journey like Reese’s character in WILD, the movie’s theme is quite poignant in my life at the moment, and probably yours too. There’s something about watching the brave stories of others that help us feel less alone in our own life story, don’t you think? The universal journey of humankind is struggle… but it’s also love, and fear, and hope, and joy, and sometimes the choice to live in the moment every day is easier said than done.
What I’ve learned on my life’s journey so far is that it’s not as long as we think it is. Whatever momentous obstacle that may be our present moment, disappears as the days pass and regrets reveal themselves in new ways we never imagined.
Though I’ve lived a pretty great life so far, I’ve mistaken fear for caution more than I’d like to admit. When I thought I was doing the right thing cautiously, moments unseized became missed opportunities, leaving me with regret for more things I didn’t do, than the things I did do. Thus begs the question “would I do it differently if I could go back?” and the answer is yes and no.
It has been said a thousand times, and again in this film, that our past makes us who we are and if we did do things differently, we wouldn’t be who and where we are today. And I believe that and since I am happy where I am, I would hold that truth as well, but I can’t help but wonder what if I had seized those momentous moments instead of passively letting them float by?
What I hope to find next in this life is acceptance of past choices that led me to this exact moment in time and space, and the knowing that if I trust in life, trust in myself, life can be a great adventure instead of a turbulent roller coaster.
“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every day… and you can choose to be there for it… or you can put yourself in the way of beauty”
Watch the official trailer for WILD below…
it kills me when she screams. I break down sobbing each time I watch it…
I can’t imagine going on a physical journey like this, could you? I sometimes feel like my mind is on this journey without even trying. Maybe an actual journey would quiet it down, but I’m not sure I’m willing to sacrifice it.
I wonder what I would bring with me? I mean, I overpack for a two-day vacation, I can’t imagine having to decide what I will “need” or not need being all alone for as long as she is in the middle of nowhere.
In the film, they refer to her pack as “Monster” and it’s an interesting take on the power that “things” have over us. By the end of her journey, her pack is lighter, as is her being, and I can imagine that would happen to all of us. Beyond the necessities, whatever those may be, my top three indulgences I couldn’t live without would be chapstick, a journal and pen, and music.
What would yours be?
Sometimes I find myself obsessing on something just to distract from what I’m really feeling and don’t realize it until I’m completely upside down. I wish I could be balanced in mind, body, and spirit all the time. But I am human, and maybe that’s just too much to ask of an emotional being. But on this life journey, I will keep trying and maybe someday something will click for good.
Have you seen WILD yet? What are your thoughts on the film?
This post is brought to you by Fox Searchlight for the film WILD.
