Keep Moving Forward
My teenage daughter surprised me a few months ago. She went home from our store (where we rent dvd’s too) with a few movies: Juno, Sidney White, and Meet The Robinsons.
I had nothing pressing to do and knew that Juno had some pretty grown up themes and figured I ought to watch it with her in case she had any questions. We ended up pulling an all day movie fest watching all three movies. I hadn’t seen any of them and it was fun to hang out with her and watch movies until our eyes got sore. (loved Juno BTW. It’s a little irreverent, but I loved it)
It surprised me to hear my teenager’s favorite movie in the world was Meet the Robinsons. It further surprised me to see her eyes mist over at the end. I mean, the show was cute, endearing, and I truly enjoyed it, but until her declaration and verge-of-tears reaction over the film, I hadn’t looked much deeper than the surface.
The story revolves around a very central theme: Keep Moving Forward.
Such a positive approach to life. In the movie our little boy-genius-orphan, Lewis, makes many mistakes, but he learns to keep moving forward–that those mistakes will build him into the man he was meant to be. Is the concept of growth and stumbling blocks oversimplified in this movie? Of course.
But such growth really isn’t the kind of concept that bears complicating. The simplicity of the message to keep moving forward is part of what makes it efficient and beautiful.
I finished my first book and hid it away on the harddrive of an old 8088 because I was afraid to keep moving forward. My husband shoved me out of my comfort zone and into the dark and disturbing world of submitting manuscripts, because I simply refused to go out on my own. Did I make mistakes? Of course. I freely admit, I’m published by an unexplainable comedy of errors. Little twists and turns of fate. Every twist and turn, making me the person I am.
Had I not stumbled forward, I would have lived in that place called regret. Always wondering what I might have accomplished if I’d only picked myself up and dusted myself off when things didn’t go the way I wanted. Always wondering, and in that wondering, consistently feeding off heaping portions of dissatisfaction. The movie Meet the Robinsons ends with a song that spoke to my soul. Because even as we stumble through our lives and trip over our own mistakes–aren’t there millions of tiny moments that bring joy as we journey through our lives and become the people we’re meant to be?
Sitting on a couch all day on a Saturday afternoon with my daughter who sometimes seems to understand so much more in the world than I do is definitely one of those little wonders.
“Little Wonders”
Let it go,
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don’t you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain
Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And i don’t mind
If it’s me you need to turn to
We’ll get by,
It’s the heart that really matters in the end
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain
All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But i can not forget
The way i feel right now
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours, still remain,
Still remain
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders still remain
–Rob Thomas
Resolutions, hearts, and other things we break
On New Years Eve a fabulous, amazing, incredible, I-can’t-believe-this-came-to-my-inbox email popped up in my Outlook. It was an email from the editor at Harpercollins. I’d sent her a query letter and the first three chapters of The Hazzardous Universe. She said she wanted to read the rest of my manuscript.
I know!
Did you hear it? The heavens are open and those angels are not only singing, they are totally breakdancing! I love it when those angels get all excited about stuff.
How seriously cool is that??? Harpercollins? YAY! And I googled the Editor (not stalking google–just research-your-editor google) and she looks like someone I could be friends with. (Not that she’d take your place, Kirk . . . everyone knows you are one wicked awesome editor.)
It was a great feeling to get that email–one I wish I could bottle up for when things get dark. And things do get dark sometimes. Writers hover at that space between light and dark and it takes so very little to throw us over to one side or the other. I can read a dozen glowing reviews of my work and smile stupidly over them, and read just one negative review and cry and blubber for hours over it. But talk about a huge shove to the light side. What a great way to kick off a new year.
I made no resolutions this year. I’m just not all that “resolved” to do things differently. I’ve made resolutions in the past, but looking back on them, they were more like wishlists than resolutions. My number one resolution was to get a book published in the national market. This is no offense to my cozy niche market, but a deep desire that makes me keen in mourning every time a rejection letter flutters to my hands. This is a ridiculous resolution. I can’t control what will or won’t be published. I’ve resolved to stop throwing tantrums, to make more substantial dinners, to be on the New York Times bestseller’s list, to fit in the jeans that no longer love me, to stop swearing, and to get myself up to date on the kids’ scrap books.
All lies. Either no control or no resolve.
In spite of all the things I probably ought to do, I have no resolve to do any of them. So why bother with resolutions?
All in all, 2008 was a good year. I actually wrote a book (for though I cannot control what will get published, I can control my efforts in attaining that goal). The store survived another year. Bing got baptised and has really accelerated in his ability to play the piano (he’s even composing his own music, which I think is just adorable). Murky discovered books were awesome and started taking the initiative of doing his homework without my screaming until my lungs burned up (the heavens are singing over that one too). Murky has also started writing his own comic books, and Rae has become amazing. I mean yes, Rae has always been amazing. Maybe it’s because she’s the oldest, or because she’s the only other person in the house who has the same levels of estrogen as me, but I look at her with constant awe. Today, while I worked the store, she sent over Bing with a plate of food for lunch. I love that she thinks of things like that to help me when my burdens are a wee bit too heavy to bear.
And Mr. Wright (who loves his name since he thinks it implies he is always right) said something really, well . . . right. He said, “I’ve loved growing up with you, and I want to grow old with you.”
Yep, I am definitely keeping him. I’m glad to hear he wants to keep me too, in spite of my resolve to remain “unresolved.” Sometimes that man is heartbreakingly adorable. I’ll try to remember that when I am breaking the “I will not throw tantrums” resolution.
I wish you all a fabulous year of joy and wonder. May your children never say embarassing things in public. And may your dreams be realized before we rollover into 2010.
Recent Comments