For me, one of the great things about movies, plays, books, and even songs is that the same story can teach many lessons as we go through life. Our change in perspective gives us the opportunity to tap into another layer of a story so that it speaks to us in an entirely different way.
Fascinating as this may be, it isn't always a happy revelation. Tonight, for the first time in several years, I watched my old VHS tape of "Grosse Pointe Blank". When I was a younger man, I rejoiced in the music, the action, the witty comedy, and the romantic storyline between Martin (John Cusack) and Debi (Minnie Driver). While I was still aware of those levels to the story, tonight I noticed a darker side that really made me sad.
For those of you who don't know, the movie is about a professional hitman named Martin Blank (Cusack) who has lost his taste for his chosen profession. In an attempt to rediscover himself, he decides to attend his 10-year high school reunion, during which he hopes to reconnect with his high school sweetheart (Driver). Meanwhile he's struggling with having one last hit to perform, someone having a contract out on him, and another hitman who has informed the feds regarding his whereabouts and assignment.
The depressing part is this: a man spends his entire adult life pursuing the mastery of a single skill: the taking of human life. After all of those years of hard work and dedication, he realizes that the one thing that he is truly good at isn't something he actually wants to do. To have devoted so much to the pursuit of a single goal only to realize that it isn't a goal that interests you is tragic.
How do I know? I'm somewhat in the same boat. I worked for years in pursuit of one goal, only to realize that it wasn't something I could actually make a living wage from. Then I made a slight shift in goal, spent three years pursuing that, only to realize that I couldn't get employed in that field. Now I find that inertia is carrying me along those same lines, and I'm not even sure it's what I want to do anymore.
Martin Blank had some idea of what to do to begin rebuilding the life he had lost. He had old friends and a long-lost love to seek out for assistance in starting down a different path. The transition may have had a few bumps, but he did ultimately break free of the path his old life was headed down.
I have friends. I have family. But I have no idea how to begin to forge a new life. I don't even know what I want my new path to look like.
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