I watched something recently, it changed my life. For years I have wondered what message God was trying to get across to me. I wondered about a lot of things, but I finally realized something…
A really confusing television show…
Over the course of this past week, I watched through a series on Amazon Prime. The show is called Forever. I chose to watch it because it had Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen, and I expected it to be a comedy. I’m not so sure that it is.
On the surface the show is about a couple who live a semi-mundane life. It follows their relationship as it evolves over time. But really, It’s about much more than that. Their relationship is not even what the show follows throughout the entire plot.
I spent a long time meditating on what the true message of the show is. I found two things:
There are three kinds of people.
There are two kinds of places.
Three kinds of people…
The concept: First, you must consider the concept that begets this theory. For every individual, there is a life they live, and a life they could live.
The first kind of person: This person is mistaken for being content. They have never experienced more than what they know. So, they think that they are living the life that they could live. This person is the millions of people left sleeping in The Matrix. It’s all of the ones who were never presented with an option, who never recognized the glitches. They think that they’re happy, but they don’t know that there is more to life than this. In the show Forever, Oscar is this kind of person. He thinks that he is happy living every day of his life the same, but he doesn’t know that there’s more out there.
The second kind of person: This is someone who knows that there is more, but doesn’t do anything about it. It’s your friend who hates their job, but doesn’t quit. It’s the character who has a choice between the red pill and the blue pill, who chooses the blue pill. They decide to believe that their instinct is a lie. They convince themselves not to live the life that they could, or they settle for believing that they do when they know that they don’t. In the show Forever, this is kase. It’s Cypher in The Matrix. They are worse than the first kind of person because they know that there is more, so they live unhappily. They can’t be content, and they refuse to be happy.
The third kind of person: This is Neo in The Matrix. It’s all of the resistance. Every person that knows it is better to do something than nothing at all. It’s the person who can’t stand living every day the same, and chooses not to. They know that they are not happy, so they stop doing whatever makes them unhappy. These are the only people who ever live the life they could live. It isn’t a miraculous or perfect life, but it’s a real life. It’s a choice to really live every day.
There are two kinds of places…
The first place: In the show Forever, the afterlife is initially presented as two towns in California. However, when watching the show, you come to realize that the two places are, in fact, the same. Whether the characters are in Riverside or Oceanside, life is mundane. One town is flashier than the other, but when you get down to it, Oceanside is just a jazzed up version of Riverside. The people still do the same things every say, and it is of no greater value. Maya Rudolph’s character is still unhappy in Oceanside, because she knows that it isn’t actually any different. In fact, if you stay there long enough, you forget that there is something else out there.
Isn’t that terrifying. That’s true in life. We can convince ourselves to live our entire life less happy, less fulfilled, less content, less joyful. We can dig ourselves so deep into the lie that this is it, that soon enough the light stops shining in. You can forget that you are meant to be more than what you are now.
The second place: Once Oscar and June realize that they do not want to stay in Riverside or Oceanside, they don’t know where to go. They haven’t been told of another place. Every time they try to follow a path someone tells them, “All roads lead to Oceanside.” Even when it takes them to a different town, at the core that town is the same as Oceanside. So, they go somewhere else. I won’t spoil it for anyone who wants to watch, but Oscar and June cannot find happiness by following a road that someone else has already walked. They have to go somewhere else, some other way.
Your life is not the same as someone else’s. You will never find your full potential by walking someone else’s path. Some people are content. Some people live their fullest life when they spend every day the same. However, those people make up a very small portion of the people who do live that way. Some people, I would argue most people, are called to more than that.
Why it’s hard to live a happy life…
Society.
Self.
Society: Society is built to perpetuate itself. It’s only purpose is to maintain the status quo, and that’s in a good situation, where society is not hypothetically detrimental. There’s something wrong with that, though. It produces the lifeless, passionless, mindless people who will continue to submit their lives to the idol that is comfort. It is comfortable to stay still. It is comfortable to live like everyone else does. People never even try to change because they’re comfortable wasting their life away.
Self: If you are anything like me, you’re probably lazy. You’re probably self-conscious and rational. You can probably convince yourself to live a life that is easier, less risky, one that makes sense. I try every day to fight these parts of me. The life you get from being lazy, actually requires more effort to enjoy. The life you limit yourself to when you are self-conscious, perpetuates insecurity. The life you settle for when you are only rational, is heartless and void.
Living the life you could live is a struggle. It’s a rejection of everything that is just okay. It means losing everything you hold onto, so that you can receive everything you’ve ever wanted.
Look around you right now. Seriously.
Life is about more than this.