3.31.2003
- The Road Not Taken-
It is human nature, I think, to wonder about what might have been had you chosen a different path. Robert Frost knew what he was saying when he said that 'way leads on to way' - once you've made your choice, usually there is no going back, which is why you have to choose carefully. We get this sense of urgency regarding the choices we make from films - from Keating's warning that we should seize the day in Dead Poet's Society, Irene Jacob's character(s) in The Double Life of Veronique to Helen's double destiny in Sliding Doors.
L'Homme du train is another take on the perplexing question - why is your life the way it is now? Why is it different from others'? Would you make the same choice again?
When I was struggling to make a decision about whether or not to move to Hong Kong, I asked a friend of mine, who is now pushing 40 (I never did have the guts to ask him) whether he had any regrets in his life.
"Of course,"
he said, looking at me like I was a retarded child.
"Do you believe in the theory that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?"
I asked.
"No,"
he said, this time looking at me as if I was painted blue and had chicken feathers sprouting out of my head.
Life is precious. We have to 'seize the day' of course, but we have to choose wisely. Which is why it is so difficult, I guess, to lead a 'good' life. Let's hope we have that wisdom in us to make such choices.