Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime.


I went to see my Naturopath, Ingrid, last Friday. It had been 3 years since my last visit with her.
To get to her house I have to drive through the backstreets of Buderim, then climb the hills surrounding Nambour to arrive, finally, at her house. It's the most beautiful prospect - facing out to the hinterland from her consulting room. It was pouring rain, an absolute deluge. I felt terrible. It had been one of those killer weeks where everything that you've been working on falls apart; personally and professionally. And I was scared that she would tell me that my poor body was unwell.
She has one of those machines that homeopaths use to test the individual organs in the body; the sinews, the bones, and the emotions. They don't lie.
I'm physically far more 'well' than I was last time she saw me - she was thrilled. I was gobsmacked. As we were talking, a few things came up. Here is an abbreviated dialogue:

INGRID: It would be so much easier if we could erase the bad memories. Just erase them, totally.
R: (Hot tears)
INGRID: It would be so much easier on the body.
R: (Spluttering) Have you seen the film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'?
INGRID: No (writing the name down)
R: One of my most beloved films - its about how much we stake on our memories, and how 'ill' we become trying to move away from them.... and then there's this machine that they use to erase people!! Like, whole people and events!! And these two people love eachother, but they hurt eachother so much and they have to run from their memories...
INGRID: That would be great if we could do it to our bodies. It would make healing so much easier.
R: (Spluttering, hiccups)... but I 'spose then, we wouldnt have any lives?
INGRID: ...Correct, darling... And your lungs and heart are very much improved at present...

"Here at Lacuna, we have perfected a 'safe', 'effective' technique for the erasure of troubling memories..."

The opening titles of this film are some of my favourite moments: what I believe is the most gorgeous performance ever from Jim Carrey - exploding with tears in his car, while the rain pours outside, and the dulcet tones of Beck remonstrate over him that 'Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime'.
And through this beautiful creation we are rewarded with the knowledge that we can run and hide from our memories; but they are still there. They are always there. And resolution is all there is to be done with them.

4 comments:

Melissa {Suger} said...

Great post. Love. And so true, Jim was fabulous in that film. It always messed with me a bit too much that one.

bobby said...

I loved Eternal Sunshine - my kind of film. Haven't seen it in a while, time for a re-watch.

Denial is nefarious, especially in that it takes with it associated beautiful memories. Negation of these on either side is one of the most painful things I've known.

It's always welcomed to have a reminder of what sets us all free, and sometimes so very timely. Thankyou.

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

I absolutely LOVED that film, and you're right, Carrey was TREMENDOUS in it.

I have a lot of bad memories I've accumulated throughout my life, but I think I've learned so much from living through each bad experience. I believe the memories are there to remind me how much I've grown.

Davenne said...

nice post. just this. great

Related Posts with Thumbnails