Because I can!

Okay, here is another rhambling. Clarissa and I watched the movie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Saturday night; after a lovely day of football in the rain, a session of conference, and dinner at Olive Garden. Such a fun day with her.

I could rhamble on about conference, and have so much to say about what I heard and gained from the messages. I learned something, also, from watching this movie that is just bursting inside of me; and knitting it all together.

The movie follows four teenage girls during a summer in which each goes through a crucial life experience. They succeed due to their loyal support of each other, symbolized by a pair of jeans (the "Travelling Pants") that they take turns wearing.

As you get to know each of the girls personalities it becomes apparent that we need so many people in our lives, for different reasons. Lena is shy, Bridget is brash, Tibby, sour, and Carmen is quite emotional. Each has had such different life experiences.
This isn't so much about the movie, as it is about a few quotes that really got me thinking about who I am, and more HOW I am. How I react to my life experiences and how I expect myself to act about them.

How I react to things that are sad?
Bridget and Tibby are talking about Bridget's mom dying. Tibby responds:
..."as hard as it is to be sad about it don't you think maybe it's harder not to be?"
Of course Bridget thinks Tibby can't understand. How can anyone understand if they haven't gone through it?

How I react to trials in my life?

Bailey, the 12 year old girl who is very sick, who comes into Tibby's life and helps her make a documentary about ordinary people. Sour Tibby, who is pretty much bugged about everything in her life, doesn't like Bailey at first. Bailey is sick, and she knows her life is short.
She records this for Tibby to find later...
..." maybe the truth is there's a little bit of loser in all of us, ya know? Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect. Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things like wearing these pants or getting to a new level of Dragon's Lair - making those count for more than the bad stuff. Maybe we just get through it... and that's all we can ask for."

How do I react to being ordinary?
Okay so maybe this movie, and conference, all stacked up inside of me. Maybe for me it is about even more than getting through it. Maybe I am hoping for rose colored glasses because so much of what I have is so good; I just need to see it. Maybe seeing and expressing gratitude, good and bad, is what gets you through. And maybe there is nothin wrong with being ordinary.

How do I react to friendships and support?

When Baily is dying she tells Tibby to finish the documentary that they have been making. Tibby sourly asks why. Baily says, "Because you can".

I can, and with loyal support of great family and friends, B, and the fabulous four, who chose me to be their mom, I can! I can make the good count for more than the bad, I can accept the challenges and trials as stepping stones to who I am becoming, I can smile through tears, and let the tears work their magic in growing me. I can!


Carmen: It would be easy to say that the pants changed everything that summer. But looking back now I feel like our lives changed because they had to, and that the real magic of the pants was in bearing witness to all of this and in somehow holding us together when it felt like nothing would ever be the same again.
Carmen cont.: Some things never would be
Lena: But we know now that no matter how far we traveled on our own separate paths...
Bridget: Somehow we would always find out way back to each other.
Tibby: And with that, we could get through anything.
Bridget: To us. Who we were, and who we are. And who we'll be.
Tibby: To the pants.
Lena: And the sisterhood.
Carmen: And this moment, and the rest of our lives.
Carmen, Lena, Bridget, Tibby: Together and apart.

Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect.

To all of us, who we were, who we are, and who we will be!