I have the culture of rewatching movies again and again. I have watched “Rush hour” many times. I have also watched “Groundhog Day” every now and then. I am also watching the 2020 movie “unhinged” for its suspense and message.
In fact, I have suggested many of my friends to watch this movie with a hype “It could be a very good example in making movies.” In many of the movies I watch, I try to get at least one idea. The chances of not finding a single idea is very slim. If it doesn’t, that means I will never watch that movie again.
But one of the movies I watched lately was so intense. It isn’t the story that attracted me much but there is one sound bite that is left with me. The movie “bad batch” is dystopian film- an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice. In the movie, I found persian poet Rumi’s saying to be at the center of what the movie is all about. One of the people in the movie was repeatledly saying:
“If you forget everything else but not this, you have nothing to worry about.
There is one thing you must never forget.
Never Never Never Never Never forget!
If you remember everything else but you forget this one thing.
If you remember everything else but you forget one thing you will done nothing in your life. Nothing Nothing.
This is the one thing one thing you must never forget !”
When the other person in the movie is asked what that thing is he replied” “you figure it out yourslef”.
“Find out for yourself.
You find out for yourself.
No one is gonna tell you. You have to figure it out for yourself.”
When I told this to my friends, they asked me the same question the character asked. “What is that thing?” I told them what the character said but I continued to wonder. Where do they get it? What do they mean? Like I mentioned above poet Rumi also said this:
“It is as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So human beings come to this world to do particular work. That work is the purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you don’t do it, it’s as though a knife of the finest tempering were nailed into a wall to hang things on. For a penny an iron nail could be bought to serve for that.”
Yes, we have to figure out what is that one thing. But to my understanding, what is described as “everything else” is power, money, prestige. These are some of the things we chase day and night. We may have this but again we still maybe sad. Even if we don’t have those, we can still be happy. As the movie is set in times of great suffering or injustice, it wants us to be determined in all circumstances.
To be unshakeable when life takes different turns, we need to indetify what our purpose in life. It is when we find our purposes, it is when know the meaning we we will be happy of our achievements. Material on its own or any otherthing by itself may not be all fulfilling.
“Remember the deep root of your being. Give your life to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If you don’t, you will be like the one who takes a precious dagger and hammers it into his kitchen wall for a peg to hold his dipper gourd. You will be wasting valuable keenness and foolishly ignoring your dignity and your purpose.”
It says: “you forget one thing you will done nothing in your life. ” In this world of ours we see people going ups and downs in life. There is so many struggle. In the street of Addis Ababa people hurridely going here and there to make a living. But some of us have forgot what we really need in life. With the constant motion of life we must have forgot what is really important.
We get the money, we get power or wisdom then we say what then? You may have witnessed emotional gap in those who we think “have everything they need.” I think they have forgot that one thing: maybe purpose or meaning or reason. Till they get that they will be insecured about life. It will be emotionless life journey where there is no true love, happiness, fullfillement in life. The irony is “this thing” is easy to find.
Like it says: “you forget everything else and not this, there’s nothing to worry about,” People who have small or nothing are seen to have of them. With out power, money or earthly possession, there are some people who have this one thing. For me, it is to find life purpose, to find your life mission. What do you want to acheive in life at the end? So, it is sometimes important for people to be aware of what they do.
BY KFLEEYESUS ABEBE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 8 JULY 2023
