I was a young Philospher.

The first epiphany I ever had happened in a dark movie theatre in the year 1984. I was watching the movie The NeverEnding Story. It was the scene where Bastian met the Rockbiter and he told him about "The Nothing".

Here is the scene...

Rockbiter: Near my home there used to be a beautiful lake, but
then it was gone.
Man: Did the lake dry up?
Rockbiter: No, it just wasn't there anymore.
Nothing was there anymore. Not even a dried up lake.
Man: A hole?
Rockbiter: No, a hole would be something. No, it was nothing.

My little eyes grew wide and my mouth fell open as that statement sank in. My 10 year old mind raced. A hole would be something but this is nothing and if it's nothing then it has to be something, right? Wow, and so what is that rock trying to tell me? I started to grasp symbolism.

This was probably my first abstract thought up to that point in my life. It blew my sweet little mind.

This would not be the last time that a children's Movie would cause a paradigm shift in my thinking. Another Movie that jolted my entire philosophy on life was Kung Fu Panda. I was sitting there unsuspectingly laughing at Jack Black's awesome delivery when BAM...they hit me with this quote.

"Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
but today is a gift.
That is why it is called the present"
-Oogway from Kung Fu Panda

Once again, with darkness and the smell of popcorn all around me, I had an existential breakthrough. I have an issue with worrying about the future. So much so, that I can totally miss what is right in front of me...the present. That animated turtle taught me to live for the moment. I meditate on this quote daily.

Finally, Griffin and I watched Meet the Robinsons the other day. It was cute and easy to swallow with a pretty simple message about making the right choices in life. The movie was over and I was cleaning up spilled popcorn off the couch when BAM...they slapped this amazing quote at the end of the movie.

"Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” - Walt Disney

I was so bewitched by this quote that my eyes welled up with tears. I just sat there in a dreamy daze and starting eating the popcorn off the couch. What an amazing mind Walt Disney had. It's thoughts like this that make me want to bust out of my skin and do something amazing with my life.

Like...
write this novel that is stuck in my head
or buy a fancy camera and take a photography class
or reorganize my kitchen cabinets.

It's so humbling when a movie made for a kid can grab me like that. Maybe it's because deep inside I'm still that wide eyed little girl. Maybe it's because my life needs to be shaken up with new thoughts now and again. Sometimes the most complex theories are delivered in simple little packages.

What Movie has inspired you?