I sometimes am able to find a movie that really speaks to me or gives me hope. A film that carries a message that tells me to never give up and to keep trying. Something that helps me remember that there are always things out there in life, like our dreams, that are worth fighting for. These movies don't typically come along too often but when they do they stick with a person. Hugo was that kind of movie for me. I loved it so much that I am only going to share two quotes from it and I will do my best to avoid spoiling the story while still sharing the beautiful imagery that is depicted so eloquently on the movie screen.
The story follows a young orphaned boy who was the son of a clock maker and his journey of self-discovery and friendship. Each major and minor character that he meets along the way has that similar journey and it is interesting to watch as their tales are completely interwoven and eventually climax to a realization of purpose. In this quote, the main character Hugo describes his perception of the world that he gained in life by learning from the experiences he had growing up with his late father.
"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason too."
It is amazing to watch how each person really does play a part in the life story of all the other characters. There really is no hero or villain if you look at it as a whole but instead each person has to come to realize that they are not defined by what life has dealt to them but in what they make of it through the decisions that they choose which help them to see outside of their original limited individual perspectives. As I said before, it is a beautiful story of self-worth and discovering one's purpose through following your dreams.
"Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do... Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose... it's like you're broken."
I think after watching this story, we need to more greatly appreciate the people around us in our lives. The individuals that we may see as good or bad are in the very simplest sense just people who are struggling like you and me to understand what they were meant to do in life. But if you watch closely, we all seem to find that meaning through the help and love of others. Some can call it guidance, others can call it example, but I call it passion and love. Maybe it is the deeply rooted romantic in me but as I watch this movie I can see how charity and compassion are able to help lift up the broken-hearted and heal the wounds that we can and cannot see. It really is a beautiful story. But even more than that I can relate this story to my own life.
I feel like I have always been a person that who has a great capacity to love and understand people. I think I can say that I have a talent for being able to listen and to express how I feel in such a way that people are able to accept me for who I am and are then willing to hear what I have to say in return. But along with that great capacity to love is what some may see in me as a trusting nature that is almost blind. And along the way, I can say that it may have led to me making mistakes or getting hurt, and at times I held onto scars that I did not have to carry. But then after that it takes a special person to come into your life that will help you realize things that you always knew and I can not remember who was able to help me realize that I could let go of those kinds of things but I will be eternally grateful. On the other hand we are prone to forget and just as important as it is to have someone teach you or show you these kinds of important life lessons, there are people who are equally important to us because they consistently help us to remember them.
I feel like I have met someone who is able to do this for me. Someone who is able to help me to always remember my own self worth, to see the good in me, and that loves me for who I am and who I am becoming. Just like the characters in the movie where there were individuals who were able to bring out the best in one another, I feel like Tatiana is able to do that for me. I don't know why I always seem to end up relating everything I do or experience lately to her but maybe it is because we are so similar or because I can never get her off of my mind. I honestly don't know. All I do know is that I have never loved so deeply and had such a connection to another person who inspires me to be better, that drives me to be better, and loves me so unconditionally, as she does. I am grateful for the blessing that she has been in my life and the wonderful experience it has been to continually get to know her and love her. And in turn, have a similar experience with the relationship that I have been developing with myself. She is more than a muse or even my best friend. She is a miracle that has made my life have real meaning. Things do not happen by chance but by choice. Where have been led up to this point as the resulting summation of the consequences from the decisions we have made personally. And I don't know all the cogs and gears that made up my version of this great machine called life but I would go through all the joy and sorrow a hundred times over if it meant that in the end I would again find myself loving her.
The message I took away from this relatively short film was this... No matter what happens or whatever you may be faced with, you have the choice to define your own future. And if you are willing to sacrifice everything for the ones you love, then in the end you will discover what your purpose really is through that sacrifice. You are able to discover what is of true worth and value to you. We were never meant to be alone and it is through the happiness of others that we find real joy. Love, sacrifice, and joy are all intimately connected so that the only way to find a fullness of any one of them you must put forth every effort in achieving them all. Just like the cogs and wheels and gears of a clock, none of us are truly independent of one another. We need one another and by working together we will find all these virtues and also a purpose in the Great Machine.
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