Tree of Life

For some reason or another I've been on a movie seeing spree. In the past two weeks I've seen five first-run movies, and one of them twice. The lucky winner? "Tree of Life" I haven't seen a film in the theatre twice since "Titanic" (feel free to gasp in horror here) in middle school. Quite simply the film, by Terrence Malick, is stunning. It interweaves the experience of being human with the vastness of the entire cosmos. It was filled with tension, the hotness of Brad Pitt, sexual confusion, tenderness and even dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were actually my favorite scene.

The film reminded viewers, those willing to think and surrender to its beauty, that life does indeed "go on" and much more than that. All of the cosmos echoes our experience just as we echo its own trials and tribulations. As modern Cosmology theories show us, we are universe at every moment. (notice didn't say "the," I still want to avoid the object-subject reference with articles.) All of creation and life is us, there is no separation. The dinosaurs, the planets, all were a part of our creation and a necessary part of it.

My favorite scene was after about 30 minutes of dialogue and story, for 15 minutes was a fury of beautiful images that I couldn't help but be mesmorized and at the same time shed a few tears. The film reminded me of what I know in my heart and yet still don't know how to fully understand. What does a life fully in touch with that knowledge look like? I suppose it begins with the "Tree of Life."

Today I'm grateful for facials, runs in the park, and trees.