“I always wondered…
when a butterfly leaves the safety of it’s cocoon,
does it realize how beautiful I has become,
or does it still just see itself as a caterpillar?”
This is the opening monologue of a brilliant movie I saw last night, The Air I Breathe. It’s based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. Here’s the trailer:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JGh5z9IDk[/youtube]
The monologue continues with:
“When I was a kid, I knew the secret to a happy life.
Play by the rules, work hard in school.
And if you work hard in school,
then your reward is… more school.
And after more school,
you are given the best that life has to offer,
a job and money and a future,
filled with unending pursuit of more…”
It was amazing that of all movies, and on a night it was my spouse’s turn to choose, I should watch the one that raises the exact same questions that have been going through my mind all past week.
At some point in the movie (I don’t want to spoil it for you), Brendan Fraser says: “Some people believe in coincidences. I’m not one of them.” This, on the day I finished reading Deepak Chopra’s book about harnessing the power of coincidence, gets speacial meaning.
Better together: (the movie) The Air I Breathe and (the book) The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire