I do believe this is my first ever movie “review” on this blog (lol) … although I won’t be hypothesizing on alternative camera angles or FPS :-).

I went to see The Great Gatsby today and I was struck by the stark contrast between the protagonist (Gatsby) and those whom he sought to be accepted, and even loved, by.  The life story of Jay Gatsby is one that truly epitomizes the “American Dream”: dirt poor farmer’s boy who leaves his home for a dream and becomes one of the richest men in the country.  The catch is that he didn’t really do all of the things that he did for money, or fame … he did it solely for love, or at least the love he had convinced himself he MUST have … that he had idealized … so it ended up not really being love at all; just the fulfillment of his fantasy.

The real truth behind this film comes in a scene where all the central characters are in the same room, and Gatsby is confronted by the husband of the woman he madly loves.  A woman whom he had met and fallen mutually in love with before she married the wealthy man she’d never been in love with, but married because Gatsby was at war and wanted her to wait for him to make some money.  The husband exposes him for the charlatan that he truly is: someone who grew up poor but is pretending to be of “noble birth”.  When the husband does this he invokes racism and classism as being almost equal … BOTH are atrocious, and I certainly have met plenty of rich people who actually think this way in both regards (although there are also a great many who do not in today’s day and age).  Gatsby explodes … and Daisy sees him for who he really is (I still don’t understand why that is a bad thing, but for her it apparently is) … she wanted a “blue-blooded, authentic” rich person as opposed to someone who built up everything he had with sheer will power and charisma … go figure.

The reason that I found this to be the pivotal moment is that all of the “animal instincts” were exposed … we see the carnal nature of man, and the consequential results of Duality, right there on display.  BOTH sides were “fighting the fight” … they were fighting basically OPPOSITE fights, but it is the fact that they were fighting SO hard that led to both sides being completely f’ed up as a result … Duality.  Light and Dark.  Good and Bad … from alternating perspectives.  Which is why it is SO difficult to actually figure out which way to go, or what to do with our lives.

This is what I have found myself meditating on almost perpetually lately.  Fighting.  The “What if?” questions fill my mind …

“What if Gatsby had allowed himself to stop fighting long enough to see that Daisy actually chose money over true love for a reason (and then did so again).”  

“What if Daisy had simply gone with her heart instead of fighting for the exterior, empty facade that exists solely because of the judgment of others.  She was obviously unhappy with the results, but she went right back to it.” (So much fighting).

“What if different classes of society, different races of people, different sexual orientations, different genders could actually step back from these things that supposedly define them … and just let them all fall away … and just BE ?” (Constant, every day, every hour, every second FIGHTING.)

It’s all seeming so simple to me that it makes me wonder why it is all so difficult … but it is. You have to get down through ALL the layers of social programming and upbringing to really SEE how trained we are to fight … we do it all the time. Even when you think you are “there” … you’ve really just hit a plateau. Believe me, there are MANY more layers to go … but every layer frees you that much more. Every breakthrough frees you that much more up to happiness. Press on.

The truly courageous people are the ones who will allow their fighting to fall away … and just be the innocents that they were, and started out as, all along. That is where a truly free, open-hearted connection with your Creator flourishes.

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A favorite quote from the movie that says it all: “I just LOVE large parties, they’re so much more intimate.” 😉

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!

There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.

By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

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