I love tragic love stories, and love foreign films and books. Several years ago, I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and found it to be a very deep, slightly disturbing book, brilliantly written. I followed it with the film, which was good but in my opinion, very loosely based, and as always disappointing compared to the book. But it had Daniel Day-Lewis, so WIN!!
For years, the message of the book disturbed me, because as often as I would re-read it, I just couldn’t grasp it. I’m not a concrete thinker by any stretch, but this was beyond my scope, even at the tender age of 21. Ok, perhaps because I was so young, then. In any case, it took me several years, and one epiphany, but I finally got the message. That concept of the “lightness of being” finally clicked.
And I know I can never feel it. And that’s a good thing. The lightness refers to being carefree, thinking only of the immediate, the “now”, whatever will make you happy and satisfied for YOU. Doing what I have to do, FOR ME, is never an option. I can never give in to the child-like selfishness, because I would then be forsaking those closest to me. Don’t get me wrong: I do small things for myself, like the bubblebath ritual and attending Wine Night with my friends. But I never let those things take precedence over anyone. I can’t. It goes against the very fiber of my being to do so. And in retrospect, I never understood it because I never have felt the need to feel the lightness, such as it is.
You may ask if I need to feel it now that I understand it. The answer is no, I don’t. I’m just glad I FINALLY figured out that little enigma from my youth, and can now shelve the book without a backward glance.
The movie, however, is still nice eye candy 😉
