Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Flash Sideways
Without giving away anything for those that haven't gotten caught up, the flash sideways phenomena has been fascinating. Characters are in similar places in life and meeting each other in unexpected ways. There are differences, of course. Some have taken bad paths toward dangerous things. Others have lived good and prosperous lives, in stark contrast to their wretched island counterparts.
But, ultimately, the sideways Losties still seem to be on a path. A predetermined path toward some as yet unrevealed destiny. A destiny they can't escape, no matter what decisions they make or direction they choose.
It got me thinking.
(Image borrowed from someone's photobucket account, via abc.com.)
I don't necessarily believe in fate or any of that. I believe we are free to make choices and that, eventually, we will benefit or suffer as a result of those choices.
But.
What about things that happen to me? Things that aren't a direct result of my own actions?
What if my dad hadn't been discharged from the Air Force after learning he had diabetes? He planned to stay in for twenty years and retire. If he had been allowed to stay, we would have lived in Idaho for another couple of years after I was born, and then moved on. Where else might we have lived? What other exciting adventures might I have had?
Would my parents have stayed together?
(Somehow I highly doubt it.)
I imagine that my life would have gone a different way. I'd have gotten to live all over the country. Maybe even the world. Might that have satisfied my wanderlust? Or would it just have gotten stronger?
I wonder if I would have followed through on my decision to join the Air Force. My senior year of high school I planned on joining up, but I changed my mind. Went to my first of three colleges, and got a job at K-Mart. I've lived a rather unremarkable adulthood so far, and I've no doubt that would have been the case no matter what road I traveled. And even though I've often wished I could go back and change that one decision and enlist in the military after all, I truly believe I did the right thing.
I served an LDS mission for 18 months. I knew I was supposed to go. I felt the unmistakable pull from the time I was eleven years old. I don't know when I might have joined the church if my parents had stayed together, since we met the missionaries after my parents' divorce, when my mom started dating someone she met through my dad's associations. But I know I needed to be in Quebec for something.
And, because of a friend I met in Canada, I ended up moving to Utah. And I always knew I was supposed to live in Utah. Even when I didn't love it all that much.
And I knew when it was time to come home to California. I was told in a loud and clear voice that I needed to drop everything and go.
Does that mean I'm where I need to be? Does that mean I might, somehow, have ended up here anyway?
I would have had different experiences, sure. But does that ultimately change my destination?
Do we all have some place we're supposed to be, and does it matter how we get there? Does everything happen for a reason? Or are we really and truly free to choose?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ponderous post, pal.
ReplyDeleteI often think that life is a giant road trip from Point A to Point B, and the route we take is that of our own choosing. There are certain landmarks we're supposed to hit along the way, but the timing of it all is up to us. And the way we get there is up to us. In this way, there is a mix of both free will and fate. I firmly believe that I am part of a grand and glorious plan, but not every detail of that plan is mapped out.
Such a deep way of looking at life. I've wondered about these same things before, too. I hope there is someplace I'm supposed to be. And I hope I'm in the right place for this time of my life. I feel like I am.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned that you 'knew when' it was time to do something or go somewhere made me wonder if it was because you have always had a clear sense of your identity, if that helped give you the confidence to take those leaps.
Great post!
Very interesting discussion. I often wonder how my life would have turned out if my parents made different choices.
ReplyDeleteCould be a very deep discussion. I believe God gave everyone free will.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting, because Hubster and I have been talking about this exact thing over the past week. We always thought we would end up by the ocean...Texas, the Carolinas, California. But here we are, in Iowa. But looking back, there were so many things...leading?...pushing?...guiding? us here that we know we are where we are supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely believe in free will and freedom of choice. But I also think that sometimes Fate places those choices before us at just the right time and place.
ReplyDeleteI have moments of knowing that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. Then other moments of knowing I'm for sure not living up to my potential, and if only this or that or the other, things could be so different.
ReplyDeleteI wonder a lot about various things that may or may not have kept my parents together too, and how my life might have been different.
Well played. I think that sometimes we take the long scenic route but we always end up where we need to be for the important things in life. But all that questioning has to be hard on the brain...
ReplyDeleteI think the movie Sliding Doors touched on that kind of parallel reality kind of thing. I often think of all the little mundane things that brought me to this point: jobs, schools, chance meetings. I think it's all part of God's plan that we are free to ruin at any point with our own human idiocy.
ReplyDeleteI think that our actions are always moving us towards our destany. That we make the choice but our destiny will ultimately pull us to where we are supposed to be... corny, I know... I am so excited to see LOST tonight! Can't wait to see what they reveal.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Keith Green, "Just keep doin' your best and pray that it's blessed . . . Jesus takes care of the rest. Don'tcha know it? He'll take care of the rest!"
ReplyDelete