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"Most things you consider evil are just lonely."

I saw Big Fish last night and was thoroughly impressed and moved. There were so many good points to be made. For example, the "moral" had to do with people becoming their stories. Meaning, ultimately, we are what we define ourselves to be. The man in the movie wove an incredible web through his life with mysterious and fantastical tales, but, ultimately, that is who he became.

Also, I love the quote at the front of this entry. How true is that. I think that meaness truly comes from sadness or lonliness. I need to be more conscious of my thoughts about other people. I shouldn't take people's meaness so seriously and instead just try to be their friend. I know it sounds so cliche and grade-school, but the older I get, the more I realize that the world is really an unhappy, overwhelming and lonely place. Unhappiness (lonliness) is responsible for all of the ills, and I am determined not to allow this to continue--at least not in my life. What it comes down to is this: smile at the person who is mean to me, don't be afraid to put my heart on display, don't take things personally and be intimate with all those I meet. Sure, that's a potential roadmap of disaster, but most goals in life are not easy to obtain.

In the movie, there was a scene where the son was yelling at the father, telling him that no one really liked to listen to him and no one cared about him. The father's face, at that instant, was so compellingly sad. I was so sad for him. It makes me feel so torn up inside when I see people hurt. I know it's just a movie, but I also know that people are disappointed in life every day, and that makes me feel so bad. When I was little I used to not be able to look at the newspaper or covers of news magazines without feeling this overwhelming sense of sadness for all that is bad in the world. It's hard to explain what I felt, but it's like the world just got so quiet and I wanted to comfort it somehow. Anyway, that's how I felt last night.

It's also important to remember how much good there is. And, I am so thankful for the incredible life that I get to share with so many people.