The Revolutionary Road

I finally got to watch the movie Revolutionary Road with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and it was amazing! Despite the amazing acting, the movie had a really important message: be who you are and do what you want no matter what anyone thinks.

The movie is about a young married couple who appear to have the “perfect” life-the house, the car, the kids and the job but, they are miserably unhappy. The movie takes you on a journey of their lives as they try to make sense of the emptiness and unhappiness that they are experiencing. They realize that they are living by society’s rules of what it means to be happy and attempt to take a risk and go against what is considered the “right” and “responsible” thing to do, only to face criticism, judgment and temptation from all directions.

I really enjoyed this movie because it is about going with what you feel and what you know is true for you-despite what anyone thinks, says or does. It is about truly living authentically from your heart and as the movie clearly illustrates, this takes a lot of courage. I like the way the movie questioned society’s standards of happiness and despite being set in the 50’s or 60’s, many of these standards still exist today.

I appreciated this movie because it reminded me that life is really lived when you begin to run risks and embrace what you know is true for you. Don’t get me wrong, I know that this is an extremely difficult thing to do, and every day presents opportunities for me to run risks which I often don’t pay attention to. But I think that maybe it can start with small things, small steps towards fiercely and intensely being who I truly am (which in itself is a challenge on its own). But I realize that I can’t do it any differently because I can’t be happy any other way.

This movie reminds me of a poem by the poet Hafiz, entitled It Felt Love:

How
Did the rose
Ever open its heart
And give to this world
All Its
Beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light
Against its
Being,
Otherwise,
We all remain
Too Frightened.

Today I learned that I should walk by the beat of my own drum-be who I am, no matter what!

Love and Light,
Saran

P.S. Check out the movie if you have the chance...you will not be disappointed!