Summer's time is up

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind…” P.B Shelly is my favourite poet of all time and every time I hit a wall and things go from bad to worse, I read him. Tying up to this thought is the wonderful movie 500 days of summer. This movie is a must-watch even for the few male readers this blog garners(thank you), it is actually in the male-perspective. Joseph Gordon-Levitt character Tom is hopelessly smitten by the cute Zooey Deschanel his colleague and they both get wrapped up in a new-age, non-committal romance, until their days in the sun are over and the relationship dies. Early on Zooey’s character Summer reveals that she does not believe in love because it always ends, because “life happens”. Two words, very poignant and crucial to the plot. 
A little after their breakup, the hopeful  Tom is invited to Summer’s home for a party on her terrace and turns up flowers in tow imagining that she would tell him they are back together. Marc Webb creates a beautiful split-screen moment, where he shows the reality of the evening and the expectation. This very Wes-Anderson-like moment makes for a visual treat and has since been my favourite scene in the movie.

So reality vs. expectation, what does one do? How do you react to a situation when it totally roller coasters into the opposite of what you imagined? 500 days of Summer is not a story of how Tom’s character fell in love and was left heart broken. It’s the story of how Summer came taught him something important about himself. (I won’t reveal in the ending for those who have not watched it yet)

Tom’s character is stuck writing copy for a greeting cards company in New York, while he is infact trained to be an architect, he never took it up seriously and settled for a job that helped him meet his ends. It took Summer to come, create havoc in his life, rip his soul apart and leave him in the trenches for him to realise that he needed to pick up the pieces and find out what makes him happy without her. He had to find himself. He found passion. He found beauty in buildings.

A lot of times, we get lost in status quos; of cushy jobs, comfortable picket fences, the painful hugs, the strange familiars. Leading sub-standard lives, being content without challenges, being threatened by the fear of the unknown. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why don't we aspire for something greater? 

Meeting your metaphorical Summer may not be such a bad thing, she/he will wreck you so you can build yourself up, inside-out.

Miracles are real, crazy amazing things will happen to you, and be dizzy with happiness. But, only if you are ready to feel all of these things. If you close yourself off and project a sense of fear and doubt, then you will attract all of those things.

Be your own visionary, make the cliches about success come true. Make every step count, every day, every decision, worth it. There is no one else like you. Remember this. Say no to substandard lives, say yes to amazing. Summer’s time is up, say yes to Autumn.