In the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, viewers follow the epic life story of a man who was born ‘old’ and gradually grew younger as his life progressed. It’s one of the most beautiful stories, captured beautifully through the art of cinematography.
It’s been over a decade since I first saw the film, and I took the time to watch it again over the last few nights before falling asleep. While watching it, I couldn’t help but wonder what the ‘theme’ of the movie was – something my parents certainly would have made me extract if I had seen it while in their household.
In my life, no other movie/story has ever had such a profound impact on my life, or the way I view the world. Shortly after seeing it for the first time, I set a weekly reminder on my calendar to view a short clip of it (https://youtu.be/Az9hckMi6KI?si=QYjhOnQ8keKYzUAp) every Friday night at 6pm. That reminder was on my calender for over a decade, and I’d frequently stop what I was doing to watch the clip.
“It’s never too late…or in my case, too early…to be who you want to be.”
As the clip progresses, viewers are taken on a visual journey through Benjamin’s life, as he traverses continents, career paths and startling moments of his life that might disturb the suburban routine most people embark on in their life; He traverses across third-world countries on the back of a motorcycle, gets woken up while sleeping on the streets or works alongside poverty-stricken people in foreign lands.
I saw a life that was beautiful, poetic and noteworthy, which is why I gave myself the reminder to view it every week. With the exception of sleeping on the streets (something I only recently noticed) I’ve lived through many of his experiences in my own life journey – and it has been beautiful.
Years ago, I walked throgh a poverty-stricken part of Urugay and went to a corner store, buying bottles of beer and parking myself on a street corner to share them with anybody who felt like joining me in conversation.
I rode at the head of the pack when a motorcycle gang roared into a local meetup in Indonesia, where there were thousands of other riders – while riding a scooter.
I once got invited to join rodeo riders in riding a bull at a ranch in Texas – which I politely declined.
In South America, I danced on the streets with brightly-dressed locals celebrating carnival as we marched through the streets in a parade.
I’ve fished with local fishermen from night until daybreak in the open ocean while in Indonesia – the most uncomfortable experience of my life – and one of the best.
Through all of the experiences and magical places I’ve been to in life, there was nothing as beautiful – or startling – as the chapter where I became a Father. That’s where all of these experiences chrytalized and became a part of the stories I now tell Atlas, who eagerly listens as I relate them to him – or show pictures of the adventures.
As Atlas gets older, there’s a part of me that hopes he will follow in some of the footsteps I’ve taken, whereas the other part of me hopes that he lives nothing like the way I did, because I hope he will forge his own beautiful life story that’s wholly unique to him.
The beautiful thing about life is that you truly can be who you want to be; “there are no rules to this thing.” however, it requires that you combine bravery, stupidity, absurdity and reckless abandon for breaking the concrete molds that society wants to enslave you with, every single day.
A lot of people chase gold, status or appearances in life. That’s perfectly fine, should that path suit you. That lifestyle never really appealed to me. As I get older, I see the value in living through unique experiences, fixing what’s been broken and throwing yourself with everything you’ve got into every day you’re blessed enough to live.
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