What About Me?

Amongst the crowded and animated streets of Brick Lane, we were lead through an unadorned entrance into a dark space lit only by the projection of the movie onto a barren white wall.   Seeing a movie outside of the normal “theater” atmosphere is a refreshing change.  In this case, the showing was split into five sections, and in between each there was a “fag break” and a story or poem from a talented writer named Simon.  Although the entire procession took three hours, it went by relatively swiftly because there were plenty of opportunities to get some fresh air or to buy another drink.

The documentary itself was quite moving.  It had this way of helping me realize that many of my daily worries are rather insignificant.  There was an instance when one of the interviewees stated that people in third world countries think about what they are doing and people in more modern cultures think about what they are going to do.  This line particularly struck me because young people are constantly preparing for their futures without taking the time to live in the present.  And it’s not our fault.  There is constant pressure from peers, media, and mostly parents to do as much as you can now in order to get rewarded later. 

The other portion of the show that inspired me was when Simon, while telling one of his stories, made the concept of love seem so clear.  He said, quite poignantly, that you must fall in love with yourself before you are able to fall in love with another person.  Love blossoms when you find another person who is also falling in love with themselves and you can share this experience of falling in love together.  I like this way of looking at the concept of love.  In many cases, a person concentrates so much on their partner’s wellbeing, that they forget that their primary priority should be their own wellbeing.