that thou art.

after living in the wilds of a glorious alaskan countryside for months, he wrote deliriously in his notebook: ‘happiness is only real if it’s shared.’ 

that was the film’s climactic conclusion. at that moment it had been decided that happiness, at any rate the main character’s happiness, could only be real if shared with his parents, sister and no doubt the lovely girl he’d met along the way. 

so much for the message, the inference being that there can be no real happiness without all that. i was strongly in favour of his decision to pack up and go home. i was seriously rooting for him. he’d at least get a decent shower, eat a few veggies, have some laundry done. nevertheless, the boy had rather unsurprisingly but just slightly missed the point. 

in sanskrit, there‘s a saying: ‘tat twam assi,’ ‘that thou art’. this is a time during which we‘re yet again cajoling each other into understanding our interconnectedness, our oneness. it behooves us to understand that, to really understand that the whole of creation is permeated essentially by one life-force, irrespective of race, creed, colour or even species. that thou art. our happiness is just as real simply when shared with the life all around, in any of its myriad forms, including our own. 

ironically, what i loved most about the film, what made me happiest, was the spectacular scenery and wild-life. it made me happy to see the elk, wolves, moose, bear. the cinematography was fantastic. i was not, however, so happy when one died and the story did not end well. one cannot help but feel for the characters around us with even the subtlest understanding of our unity. that thou art.

when one of us is in trouble, in that case, it’s as if we’re each of us in trouble. when one of us can’t breathe, with that understanding, it’s as if none of us can breathe.

“one's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, compassion and true understanding.” simone de beauvoir