Towards an eternal sunshine
How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
- from Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope
I've never read Pope's poems, and I only came across that part of the poem from the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I came across this film several years ago, and it changed the way I perceived Jim Carrey's acting ability forever. I wasn't that convinced after The Truman Show or Man on the Moon, but I put that down to my bias towards the films themselves. They were good, without a doubt, but..
I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It feels and looks like a cross between an LSD trip and a beautiful dream, and at its core a sad love story with a bit of hope. The story is about a quiet man, Joel Barish, who was heartbroken that his free-spirited girlfriend Clementine underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory and decides to do the same. But as he watches his memories of her disappear, he realizes that he still loves her, and that it may be too late to stop the process.
(This is not a film review. Gotcha.)
Sometimes when things aren't going well in life or love, or when I did something that I would later on regret, I wish that I could wipe away those memories from my mind and start over. But the brain is a complex thing, as evidenced in the film, and it is these memories, these experiences, that make you who you are today.
Even if some memories are conveniently blocked or "deleted" from your brain, the impact or emotions from that experience is still deeply imbedded in your subconscious. For example, why do you find it hard to trust people? Why do you find it hard to be close to anyone? Why don't you feel comfortable in big groups of people of your gender? Why do you have an addictive personality?
Too many questions. And these questions can only be unlocked by your memories, some of which are hidden in your subconscious. Possible unhappy childhood experiences, a case of child abuse or bullying maybe. Or an experience of rejection, which hit you so profoundly that it affected you many years later.
It could be any little thing in the past, and it could be the answer to everything.
While I am beginning to understand why I am the way I am, by speaking of the memories, by asking questions and finding out; I am nowhere close to really understanding myself and why I act or behave in a certain way, speak in a particular manner. This self discovery shall take years.
I want to grow old, and look back at my life in a quiet reminiscence and have that moment of epiphany, when I finally 'get' the person I find the most difficult to understand - myself. And maybe then, that eternal sunshine will be so welcome.
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
- from Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope
I've never read Pope's poems, and I only came across that part of the poem from the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I came across this film several years ago, and it changed the way I perceived Jim Carrey's acting ability forever. I wasn't that convinced after The Truman Show or Man on the Moon, but I put that down to my bias towards the films themselves. They were good, without a doubt, but..
I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It feels and looks like a cross between an LSD trip and a beautiful dream, and at its core a sad love story with a bit of hope. The story is about a quiet man, Joel Barish, who was heartbroken that his free-spirited girlfriend Clementine underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory and decides to do the same. But as he watches his memories of her disappear, he realizes that he still loves her, and that it may be too late to stop the process.
(This is not a film review. Gotcha.)
Sometimes when things aren't going well in life or love, or when I did something that I would later on regret, I wish that I could wipe away those memories from my mind and start over. But the brain is a complex thing, as evidenced in the film, and it is these memories, these experiences, that make you who you are today.
Even if some memories are conveniently blocked or "deleted" from your brain, the impact or emotions from that experience is still deeply imbedded in your subconscious. For example, why do you find it hard to trust people? Why do you find it hard to be close to anyone? Why don't you feel comfortable in big groups of people of your gender? Why do you have an addictive personality?
Too many questions. And these questions can only be unlocked by your memories, some of which are hidden in your subconscious. Possible unhappy childhood experiences, a case of child abuse or bullying maybe. Or an experience of rejection, which hit you so profoundly that it affected you many years later.
It could be any little thing in the past, and it could be the answer to everything.
While I am beginning to understand why I am the way I am, by speaking of the memories, by asking questions and finding out; I am nowhere close to really understanding myself and why I act or behave in a certain way, speak in a particular manner. This self discovery shall take years.
I want to grow old, and look back at my life in a quiet reminiscence and have that moment of epiphany, when I finally 'get' the person I find the most difficult to understand - myself. And maybe then, that eternal sunshine will be so welcome.
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