Into the Wild

I can think of very few movies in my lifetime that have led to great discussion about the content with friends or family with whom I watched them. Saturday night found us watching a film that still has me mulling life over in my head today.

My wife sent me to pick up a dvd to watch this weekend since our Saturday night routine of Prairie Home Companion, then PBS has been indefinitely interrupted by our local PBS station being "down". I walked the aisles of the video store and landed on "Into the Wild"....something about it grabbed me, though I had never heard of it.

Based on a true story, this top of the class kid graduates pre-law and was accepted to Harvard, but dealing with some internal struggle chucked it all and headed out on the road. The relationships that he developed as people crossed his path were emotionally comforting and challenging to him. Finally he ended up in the Alaskan wilderness alone........but with a new found perspective on life......"happiness is only real when shared". I've really dumbed this movie down, but want to encourage you to go out and rent it. Be in the right state of mind to watch it though.

Personal application time: over the last few months my attention has been turned very directly toward the people in my life-friends, family & neighbors-and to examine my relationship with them to determine if I am truly living up to what I need to be for my kids, my wife, my friends. And not out of obligation, but out of love. It is interesting to note that I have experienced a shift away from politics, career and most recently the church-and I believe it is to fulfill what I really want most in life.........to truly make an impact in people's lives.

No doubt, this recent movie gave me more insight on how to do just that.