Life's Greatest Adventures

     For those that have Disney Plus, I would recommend watching Onward, Pixar's newest movie. While it may not be in the same tier as Pixar classics like Monsters, Inc. or The Incredibles, it is a worthy addition to the Pixar library. It was a well-told, funny story about two brothers on a quest to see their deceased father one final time. And if nothing else, it features the voices of Chris Pratt and Tom Holland, which makes for some great brotherly banter.

     When watching Onward, one thing that stood out to me was how there were parallels to another Pixar film: Up. Up tells the adventures of Carl Fredericksen, an elderly man, seeking to live out the dream Ellie, his deceased wife, had of living in Paradise Falls. When Carl does get to Paradise Falls, he looks through Ellie's adventure book, a scrapbook that she made when she was a child outlining her dream of living there. As Carl gets to the "Stuff I'm Going to Do" section, there's a clear sense of sadness and regret on his face. He feels as though he failed Ellie because she never got to live out her dream of going to Paradise Falls. 

     However, when Carl looks through the "Stuff I'm Going to Do" section, he finds that the section has not been left blank, but has been abundantly filled with pictures and memories from their marriage. As Carl starts to tear up looking through the pictures of their marriage, he finds a final note from Ellie thanking him for the adventure and encouraging him to go on a new one. Personally, I've found this scene to be even more touching and emotional than the opening married life montage with Carl & Ellie, but that's another story and debate for another day.

     Life has a way of unfolding in unexpected ways and deviating from the plans and dreams we may have. One quote that I came across a while back put it more eloquently than I ever could: "life is what happens to us while we are making other plans" (Allen Saunders is credited with coining the phrase, while John Lennon used a similar line in his song "Beautiful Boy"). We can spend so much time making plans or focusing on things we want to accomplish that we fail to see what's unfolding in front of us. Our everyday lives may seem so routine or simple that we forget the small joys that each day brings. 

     The truth is, life rarely happens the way we want it to. Unfortunately, that can cause stress, frustrations, and regret on our end. Over the course of Up, Carl thought he had failed Ellie, but it turned out that life with him, not going to Paradise Falls, was her greatest adventure. There's been times in my life where I've found myself bummed that I missed out on opportunities or felt as those I didn't get to do all that I wanted to do. Other times I've been mad at myself for wishing that I had done more or had started doing something sooner. 

     Time's a finite resource, one that's in way too short supply. With that, once something passes, it's over. There's not a way to go back and get a redo. That can be a tough reality. In the midst of the quarantine we're all in right now, my heart goes out for those who are having major life events altered, postponed, or canceled - proms, graduations, weddings, vacations, ceremonies, and so on. In these times, it doesn't seem fair that life unfolded this way or that there are those untold stories and what ifs. And right now, it's okay to feel that pain or be disappointed about that canceled event. It's been a difficult time for sure.

     When I think about the way life unfolds versus the plans I often make to no avail, I'm reminded that life isn't about checking things off a list or making it pretty for social media platforms. Conversely, life is about the way that we live each day and interact with everyone in our lives. It's about having those great conversations with family and friends, especially when they are over a nice meal. It's about the small ways we live each day and things we do. Whether we realize it or not, life is always happening and unfolding before us. And sometimes, the best memories and joys that life brings are ones that are unplanned and unscripted.

     2 months ago, my sister and I met up in El Paso for a long weekend. Looking back on that trip, some of my favorite memories of it were from adventures that we hadn't planned or ones that simply unfolded in front of us. As we got to one trail for hiking, it wasn't exactly what it had looked like on Google Maps. Nonetheless, we went along with it and did see some pretty nice views (and silly jokes) along the way. That night, the place that we were planning to go for dinner was closed, so we checked out a pizza place instead.  It turned out that the pizza place had a chalkboard guests could doodle on, so we naturally doodled some inside jokes and had fun with it. On our last day in El Paso, we visited the library downtown, where one of the librarians told us stories about the history of the El Paso library, which may or may not include paranormal activity. 

     All of this is to say, when I was boarding my flight to El Paso, I didn't anticipate writing on a chalkboard at a pizza place or exploring the library and hearing unique stories. And that was the beauty of it! 2 months later, those are some of the things that I remember the most about that trip. Last night, as I reflected on this past month in quarantine, one thing that I did take heart in during this difficult season was what I have been able to do - Zoom calls and good talks with family and friends, reading a few books, playing scrabble, completing a puzzle, going for walks, and even writing in this blog after a bit of a hiatus. 

     To close, I'll reference the Arthur special Arthur's Perfect Christmas. Buster, Arthur's best friend, wants to have an easygoing Christmas, one that won't leave his mom feeling overwhelmed and pressured as they try to do all the Christmas festivities. On Christmas morning, Buster suggests having an easygoing day and calling it "Baxter Day". His mom goes with it, and the montage at the end suggests that they had a great Christmas, err, Baxter Day. Life rarely unfolds the way that we envision or want it to go, but that's okay. I've often found that life can be more fun when I'm not trying to actively check something off a list. Each day brings blessings in itself, blessings that we don't always realize in the moment. And those can lead to life's greatest adventures.

Reminiscing (and missing) hiking the Franklin Mountains in El Paso

Another unplanned gem from El Paso: getting coffee in a boxcar!