Predictability

"If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor." -Eleanor Roosevelt


Predictability. Also called banality.

I think predictability is boring. Whether it relates to movies, books, or day to day life in general. I think this is one of the reasons I find I don't watch as many movies nor read as many books as I once did. Well that and the fact that I have three children and a husband that takes up most of my free time. Today, however, hubby allowed me about two hours to myself in our room to watch a movie. I decided to watch '500 Days of Summer' with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt (I wondered recently why he was hosting Saturday Night Live as I didn't think he had done anything since Third Rock from the Sun). I quickly rethought my decision when I saw it had received awards at some film festivals, as those are usually not my types of movies. I was also afraid it was going to the be the usual, predictible crap, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they break up, they discover they never should have broken up and end up happily ever after...blah, blah, blah. However, this movie surprised me (which is a hard thing to do). There were some great one liners, as well. The following was a pretty funny exchange between two of the characters (one being the guy that plays Dr. Spencer Reid on 'Criminal Minds', fun to see him in something else):

Tom: Paul, seriously...
Paul: Did you bang her?
Tom: No!
Paul: Blow job?
Tom: No!
Paul: Hand job?
Tom: No, Paul, no jobs. I'm still unemployed. We just kissed.

Thought that was pretty funny. "still unemployed"...anyway...

Back to predictability. Although I say I get tired of it, I did find myself rooting for the two characters to be together and be happy forever. I guess that is why movies use that formula so often. In "real life" so often there is no "happily ever after". Or, if there is, there is a whole lot of crap in between. To say the least. Or, if you are going through a rough time it can be nice to escape for a couple of hours and believe, albeit for a short while, that things really can work out. That there really are happy endings. 

At the same time it is nice to have some unpredictability. To be surprised. To find the unexpected. Which is what I found in this movie. Although it didn't end the way I wanted it to, or expected it to, it ended happily and I was surprisingly quite satisfied with the ending. 

I have always had ideas and beliefs as to how my life would unfold. I guess in a lot of ways it has followed that pattern. Married, kids, full time job, house, 2 cars, etc. However in a lot of ways it is different, too. I work, my husband stays home (and I quite like working). My husband cooks, I clean. Life is comfortable, although not quite as comfortable as I would like (Hey, I'm a commissioned sales rep in this economy, it's tough!) still we live pretty well. 

I also have found the more "life experience" I have the more certain aspects and beliefs I've always held have changed as well. I am not nearly as uptight or driven to project a certain image as I once was not so long ago. I think as I'm getting older I am learning to be more true to myself. I thought I always had been but I have figured out that perhaps I was who I thought I was supposed to be, not who I really was. If you can follow me here. I suppose I have discovered the fun in not trying to control and steer everything. That if you just let things happen, enjoy the ride and be open to them, unpredictability can be quite satisfying and a lot more fun than predictability ever thought about being.