Being that I work evenings, I never actually watch TV on my TV. I don't even have cable. Because of this, I am a frequent (ab)user of Hulu. The commercial above, which is actually for Louis Vuitton (which I didn't pick up on the first time I saw it because I was too focused on how much I was enjoying the commercial) is one that comes up every once in a while when I'm watching my weekly episodes of Castle or The Office or Grey's Anatomy online.
Now that I got some silly and sappy YouTube clips out of my system... back to the matter at hand.
I actually really love this commercial. Because apart from the part where it's trying to sell you a ridiculously expensive handbag with an ugly designer pattern all over it, it actually has a really good point.
The journey is life itself.
Our lives, and everything in them, are our journeys. You don't actually need a Louis Vuitton handbag to go on that journey. (That's the part I'm sure the commercial doesn't want me to say) Because we're all on that journey, whether we want to be or not. And that journey is only ever going to be what you make of it. You can either be an active part of your world, and find your place in it, or sit on your couch and accept that your place is on your ass. Now come on, who is honestly going to pick the latter option?
We could sit here for days theorizing and hypothesizing and philosophizing (spell check tells me I have yet to make up a word in this sentence) about the meaning of life, and the point of the journey we all take in our lives, but we might, in fact, be missing the point.
Because what if there is no point? What if the point is the journey? You know, "Happiness is a journey, not a destination", "Half the fun is getting there" and all that jazz.
None of us know what the point is. So if we spend all our time trying to get to the point, or find the point, or identify the point, what are we actually doing?
This hits me especially hard, simply because I find myself constantly living for the unreachable tomorrow, which will obviously be better than today. I treat things in my life as a process. Every job is a stepping stone to another job. A notch on the belt. A line on the resume. I'm building up and adding on so that tomorrow will be better, because I'm better - I'm a better, more qualified, more experienced employee who is capable of getting a better job. I'm obsessed with making myself more prepared and more qualified for whatever comes next.
And I'm not saying that being prepared is a bad thing. Because it's not. But at some point I do have to step back and realize that sometimes I don't actually know what I'm preparing for. And I'm missing out on all the steps in between because I'm so focused on the future.
I felt like I had my heart physically wrenched from my chest when the guy that I'd been seeing told me he was calling it quits to go and pursue someone else. Because I was so focused on developing the relationship, and working on achieving things that would make us happier that I was unable to look at the wonderful time we spent together and just appreciate that for what it was. I was too busy being shattered that it didn't have a "tomorrow".
So basically, what I'm saying is, there has to be a happy medium with the journey. There has to be a way to enjoy the journey without neglecting the destination, and enjoying the destination without blowing off the journey.
I just, ya know, haven't figured that part out yet.
~Jessica
No comments:
Post a Comment