The phenomenal film, Nightcrawler, landed in cinemas this month, and it’s so good that I’ve already seen it twice! Of course, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it turns out that the 2 things that allowed me to love this movie are the only 2 things you need to love your life. Let’s start with the 2 things you have to have to be able to enjoy a movie:
1) You have to be able to be ‘swept away’ by the film
The best film directors are masters of creating an illusionary reality. They use sound and light to create an imaginary world that we experience as though it’s an actual reality. When we get ‘swept away’ by a movie, we get drawn into the director’s illusionary world and experience it as real. We temporarily ‘forget’ that the characters and events we’re experiencing are light and shadows on a screen. We get drawn into the director’s illusionary world, and relate to the characters and events as though they’re really happening. When someone doesn’t get swept away by a film, you’ll often hear them say something like “I couldn’t get into it”; they weren’t ‘fooled’ by the directors illusionary reality, so couldn’t enter into that world.
2) You have to be able to ‘wake up’ from the film’s illusionary reality
While it’s wonderful to be swept away by a film, we also have to be able to wake up to the fact that it’s just a film; otherwise you’d phone the fire department when flames appeared on the screen, and hide behind your seat if bullets started flying in the movie. Our ability to fall out of the film’s illusionary reality is a function of our understanding of the nature of movies. You developed this understanding at a very early age, and you now understand the nature of movies so deeply that your ability to ‘wake up’ from the film is automatic. You have an embodied understanding of the nature of film. Of course, little children don’t yet understand the nature of film – that’s why we have to be selective about what they watch. Telling a child that doesn’t understand the nature of film that “it’s just a movie” has no effect. It’s your embodied understanding of the nature of film that allows you to wake up from the movie.
Enjoying a movie requires an oscillation between these two positions; being swept away by the film’s illusionary reality, occasionally punctuated by waking up to the fact that it’s just a movie. And enjoying life requires exactly the same kind of oscillation:
1) You have to be able to be ‘swept away’ by the principle of Thought
The principle of Thought is like the best film director in the world. It creates a multi-sensory illusionary reality that we bring to life using the principle of Consciousness and experience as real. We’re living in the feeling of the principle of Thought taking form in the moment, but it often seems like we’re feeling whatever’s on the screen of our thinking. When we’re moved by the sight of a beautiful sunrise, filled up with love for someone we care about or inspired by a leader’s visionary words, we’ve been swept away by the principle of Thought. Those beautiful feelings are coming from Thought taking form in the moment within you, but it seems like they’re coming from the sunrise, the leader or the loved one. When we’re anxious about a future appointment, worried about someone we care about or angry about someone’s past behaviours, we’ve been swept away by the principle of Thought. Those uncomfortable feelings are coming from Thought taking form in the moment within you, but it seems like they’re coming from the appointment, the person we’re concerned about or the wrongdoer’s behaviours. This is the illusionary power of Thought.
2) You have to be able to ‘wake up’ from Thought’s illusionary reality
We all get swept away by Thought, but we all have the power to wake up from Thought’s illusionary reality; to fall out of our thinking and back into the present moment. We’ve all had the experience of being very worried about something before going to sleep, then waking up the next morning wondering why we were so bothered about it. Little children intuitively grasp the illusory nature of Thought, able to flit from inconsolably miserable to giggling with joy in the blink of an eye. In any moment, we can wake up to the fact that we’re feeling Thought in the moment, and not what we’re thinking about. And the moment this happens, we fall back into the present.
Earlier this month, I was delivering one of the Big Picture Lectures at Greenwich University Business School, and I asked the audience, “What do you absolutely have to have to enjoy a movie?” A young woman shouted out “Popcorn!”, but the real answer is something that’s true for everybody. A rich, enjoyable experience of life relies on an oscillation between the two positions mentioned above; getting swept away by the principle of Thought in the moment, then waking up to the illusory nature of Thought. And as you continue to explore the principles behind clarity, your understanding of the deceptive and illusory nature of Thought will allow you to enjoy the oscillation more and more. And it turns out that’s the only thing you need to live a life you love.