Skip to main content

Up In The Air

Last night, as part of my pre-Oscar movie-going frenzy I went to see “Up In The Air.” I remain haunted by Ryan Bingham and the look on his face when his lover tells him he is a parenthesis.

In the beginning of the film Ryan and Alex seem to be cut from the same fabric – embracing aloneness; looking for entertainment; going back to their corners.

Then something happens and Ryan’s heart opens up to possibilities beyond his own private universe. He begins to fall in love. Even more, he decides to share the news with the woman he loves only to discover that she was more like him that he was.



Ryan: I thought I was part of your life.

Alex: I thought we signed up for the same thing… I thought our relationship was perfectly clear. You are an escape. You’re a break from our normal lives. You’re a parenthesis.

Ryan: I’m a parenthesis?


I’ve been on both sides of that conversation. In years gone by I have been like Ryan and Alex – cool, falsely compassionate, struggling to mitigate my own shortcomings and failures in the eyes of the world and finding myself lonely and alone. These days I’m more often on the receiving end of heartache.

I’ve decided to not look for a parenthesis. I’ve decided to not be afraid of what might happen if I am more than a parenthetical in someone else’s life.

I’m hoping that Mr. Right is out there and that he is ready for me. In the meantime, like in the movie, I am up in the air hoping for a smooth landing.
Labels:

Comments

korliss said…
I believe you will have a safe landing! love you-
Thu Mar 04, 04:47:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pink Glove Dance

Who says kids don't have a thing or two to say? My best friend’s daughter is an extraordinary 11 year-old. I am proud to call Katya my friend as well. This afternoon she sent this video that has been making the rounds and I wanted to share it with you. In order to raise breast cancer awareness, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon produced the Pink Glove Dance for Breast Cancer Awareness. Their hope was that they could get 1,000,000 hits to help raise money. In just one month they’re nearly at the 5.5 million mark. It’s fun and inspiring. Take a moment and let it make you smile ;-) xxx
6 comments
Read more

Menopause

I am in menopause. I am at my beginning. Again, I have come of age. We all do it. We all do it differently – hormone replacement therapy; hot flashes; loss of sex drive; increased sex drive; the tragedy of new facial hair; fear of bone loss; antidepressants – and none of us know what will come next. Very few of us share our secrets. I have spent the last few years discussing these issues with girlfriends. We have shocked and surprised each other as well as found comfort in some of our common stories. After years of being single and keeping my eyes on nothing but my career, it was clearly time to take control of myself and my body. I had just gone through a record emotional dry spell. I felt very alone, but imagined that I was not in a place so different than other women. Women in the workplace spend years losing themselves in order to gain advancement that, even if it does come, won’t be as satisfying as they thought. It is that time in your late thirties, often through your forties, t...
5 comments
Read more

Distractions

I’m sitting at the Café in the Barnes & Noble in the Citicorp Building in NYC. I came for a little inspiration. It is filled with writers and readers sipping coffee and staring out the window at the rain. I love being here, surrounded by stacks of books and people who love them. When I arrived, the café was full so I went to the second floor to the biography section to take a gander at my book on the shelf. It’s so exciting to know that it’s here, to know that several stores in Manhattan have it on the shelf. I wonder if that will ever get old. I certainly hope not. I came here to work on my novel, but my head is so full I decided I make use of the time here to organize my thoughts. Multitasking has been a chore over these last few months and it helps to just lay it all out. These are the main events: The novel – The working title is Thanksgiving. The collaboration project – It’s a big exciting secret book proposal. The big pitch – I’m working on the idea of making I T...
4 comments
Read more