“Stuart, A Life Lived Backwards” Revisited
It seems but a short period of time since I reviewed “Stuart”, one of the first reviews on this site, and now it is a BBC film. I have to admit that I couldn’t watch all of it, as what was manageable on the page was unbearable to watch on the screen.
Along with “The Lives Of Others” and “Shine” and “Towards The Light”, it also got me thinking about “change”. At the start of “The Lives Of Others” the playwright’s new offering opens and he is looked upon quite condescendingly as an optimist who still believes that change is possible and yet, a mere 4 years and 7 months after the main events of that movie the Wall falls and East Germany (and the world) will never be the same again. This is beautifully juxtaposed by the story arc of one of the main protagonists, the Stasi captain who leads the investigation, but who also subverts it. His boss sets his punishment at 20 years of obscurity steaming open envelopes, ended by the tumbling of bricks.
By coincidence, I visited Robben Island on the tenth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release, and how many of predicted that momentous occasion.
Change is an interesting phenomena and it is very difficult to track its progress. Who knows what undercurrents are at play that will lead to results unpredictable to most of us? And if this is the case, what is it best to do in this the most uncertain of worlds. What is the point in planning for the future when that future may disappear like the very chimera that it is?
As the world in which I work is dominated by the setting of outcomes, how do I square this with the reality of the world?
Generally speaking, there seem to be two options:
The first is to accept the world as it is and to allow oneself to be battered by the winds of change as they come and go. As there is nothing that I can do about it, what is the point in even trying? Let’s all accept what is happening and make the best of this the worst of all possible worlds.
The second is grab hold of the world by the scruff of the neck and make it bow down to your demands.
Neither of these is completely true, of course, and the more human response would be to take a course somewhere between the two.
It is important to set outcomes and to take some control over our destiny, and it is also important to recognise that these outcomes must be flexible enough to respond to the changes occurring in the world.
It is important to set a direction and then let go of the details of how to achieve it, for with every choice that we make, we close down other options and possibilities that may have proved better fro us in the long run.
But how do we set this direction? One way would be to listen to the Spice Girls’ demand to “Tell me what you want, what you really, really want”. Archetypically, this is the more masculine way; the more feminine way would be to sit quietly and listen to the “small, still voice inside” and discover what emerges. Whichever way you find more useful, it is important that you do not set too much store by it and be pleasantly surprised when it emerges in ways that you hadn’t imagined.
Another way to explore this whole area is to look backwards and begin to notice the patterns that have brought you to the place that you are now. I know that the year after I left teacher training college when I was unemployed was a terrible time that truly did shape the person I have become and gave me massive insights into the lives of others I worked with later. If you had told me that at the time you would have been given short shrift. Look for the shapes and patterns, the warp and weft of your life and become aware of what the universe has brought you and what you have brought into the universe.
The way of the “hero” in “The Lives Of Others” is via other people. Only as he listens in on other lives does he realise how empty his own is leading him to make the truly heroic act of all the characters involved.
A more challenging way might be to consider your own death and to think about the legacy that you want to leave remembering Pompey’s thought that “No Roman has ever been remembered for the amount of money he left in his will”. What would you like to be remembered for?
Whichever way that you explore it, it might be useful to spend some time over the next month contemplating what, exactly, you are here for?
The quote on my calendar today is by Antoine De Saint~Exupery, author of “The Little Prince”:
“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.”
What step are you going to take today?
PMcN
2008-02-27
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