Wednesday, May 11, 2011

the crowd

i remember seeing a movie in my film history part one class many years ago (saying that i remember seeing "a movie" is actually pretty accurate; the class was at 10 a.m. and while my passion for antiquated movies wasn't as strong as it is today, i was still interested in it, yet managed to sleep through just about every movie in there) that had a moment that stuck out to me. i think the movie was "the crowd", a relatively famous silent film by king vidor. the family in the story had decided to take a trip to the beach and everything was spread out on a picnic blanket. the kids were playing and in some way ruined the cake that the mother had made. i remember her getting upset with the children and it kind of ending their fun day.

something about that stood out to me: how the mother had wanted the day to be perfect and happy, but when the kids accidentally ruined the cake that was a part of that plan, that effectively ended the day, when really that was an inconsequential part of it and they could have brushed it off and enjoyed each other.

on the shuttle to the airport this morning, a family boarded with two small girls. the mother apologized to the rest of the shuttle for their slowness in boarding and getting all of their luggage on. i don't think any of us minded, but she was clearly irritated with her sitauation. i saw her sifting through her bag, making sure she had everything to make their week-long trip in mexico go like she wanted, yet i couldn't help but suspect that she'd likely be that exasperated for her whole trip.  i wanted to tell her to relax and just enjoy things, but that probably wouldn't've been very effective.

still, it's left me thinking.  yes, it is easier said than done, but i'm going to try and not get as bothered by little things, especially if they're insignificant towards the bigger goals, particularly if getting bothered by them takes me exactly opposite of where i'm trying to go.  it's just a cake.

dang, i was hoping this would come to a less cliched conclusion.....
meh, i won't sweat it.

2 comments:

Em said...

You will find, I expect, that this task (which you are totally spot on about) becomes infinitely harder with short people around. They are just so creative with their "pulling the rug out from under you"-ness. It's hard to be prepared to roll with punches you cannot anticipate.

The Former 786 said...

This post was something I really needed to hear. I've found myself letting one little speed bump upset my entire day lately and I need to just calm down and enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the advice, Jeff.