The Purpose of LIFE: A Reflection on the Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE: A REFLECTION ON THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (2013)

Watch: New Trailer for 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' | The Young FolksMichael DeNobile reviews the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and its moral implications.

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of LIFE.
One day, we may wake up and realize that we have not been or done anything noteworthy or mentionable. We get caught up in the mundane of our lives, time passes, and we allow it to slip away. We forget that we are truly unique—that no one of our chromosomal make up, born in the exact time and place we were, with our parents, friends, and family, thinking the exact thoughts when we thought them, experiencing the experiences when we experienced them, has ever, is, or will ever walk this earth, and because of that, by virtue of science we possess a unique place in the universe. And that we have this wonderful gift of a planet for us to discover, explore, experience, even if it is just to say “been there, done that.”

Sometimes to escape reality, we may draw within ourselves, and get lost amongst our thoughts and imaginations. And while our imaginations are a safe place to process the world, if we remain there and never branch out into reality, to see that beautiful, glorious, sublime world and experience things dangerous to come to and be daring; to see behind the walls of our mundane existence and draw closer to find each other in this world; to feel alive—we will never be the heroes of our own stories but supporting characters in the lives of others. 

In our world where we define dating as swipes and winks, go forth into the unknown. Find ghost cats. Pick the red car. Become the person you were always meant to be. Swim with sharks. Jump into a helicopter with a drunken pilot. Chase volcanoes. Climb Mount Everest. Regret nothing; apologize often. Love like there’s no such thing as a broken heart. Live every day like it’s your last. And in the words of Walt Whitman, “your very flesh shall be a great poem.”

Your very flesh shall be a great poem. ~Walt Whitman



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