The other day, flipping channels in a hotel room, I saw the last minutes of the movie Castaway. After being stranded on a tropical island for years, Tom Hanks returns to the world. He makes a beeline for Helen Hunt’s doorstep. They chat, they kiss, she declares, “You’re the love of my life!” And then she sends him away. She has a new family now.
The film ends with Tom at a country crossroads, in the moment of decision. Whither?
If the film were a novel, this is where the story would begin. The survival adventure is only the set-up, the meat of the story is how he survives the comeback.
Survival is all about overcoming adversity. Strong will and luck and resourcefulness win the day. Survival is as small as an island: one goal, one person, one present moment.
Living is navigating. Adversity is just one thing on your plate; your story is not about how you overcome but how you work with. What rules here: Identity, meaning, connection. Will and desire. Surrender. Oh, of course: love.
Living has no goal, rather process. There are many people, and each one contains many persons. Time loses track of itself, spreading like water over a wide, flat plain. You live in every present moment.
Following close on the Castaway credits are the opening scenes from Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason. This is a sequel to Bridget Jones’ Diary, in which Bridget and the man of her dreams find love. These movies are based on novels. Edge of Reason asks: How will they live on?
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Earlier I had written: “I still hope Barbara will walk through the door.”
What if she did? Really, what if?
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