Life in a Day

     Life in a Day is a movie filmed by thousands of people around the world on July 24, 2010. People were prompted to record what they did on that particular Saturday and submit their footage to a specific Youtube location where it would be gathered for editing. Everyone's footage, whether it was filmed with a cell phone or an expensive video camera, was accounted for. The footage was professionally edited and set to music to create an image of what life is like for people around the world.
     The scenes in this movie ranged from funny, to sad, to serious. For me, there were three scenes that were especially memorable. Early in the movie, during the morning section, viewers are presented with a scene in which a young boy and his father go about their morning routine. They live in a small Japanese apartment, crowded with various possessions. The young boy is only about three years old and demonstrates enormous curiosity and maturity. He embodies all of the traits of a wondrous child. His father seems to have been put through his fair share of stress in his life, but seems to be renewed each day through their morning routine and the extraordinary spirit his son emits. My favorite "character" in this film was the Korean man who was riding his bike around the world. He seemed like someone with a purpose and focus in life. I admired that fact that even though he was just one singular person, without a large following, trying to do his best to make the world a better place.
 Another scene that I appreciated was the final one in which a young woman is talking about her day into the camera at night. At first, she seems like is going to do something drastic as her tone is almost desperate. However, as she continues to speak she talks about how nothing significant or life-changing occurred during her day, but how that was alright and that she is thankful to be alive. This was the scene in the movie that I could identify with most. To me, there are so many days when I just stare out the window wishing I could be doing something memorable. I often feel like I waste entire days just doing nothing that's going to improve my own life or the life of another. It's just 24 hours that come and go. However, the girl at the end of the movie helped me reconnect with what I appreciate about life. Right now, I don't expect everyday to be exciting or dramatic nor do I really want them all to be. As I look back, I truly do feel like I am the luckiest person in the world to be in the position I am in and be able to view the world from where I do. I could write a whole book talking about why I feel so lucky, but some things are best kept for one's self. I have learned to accept that life overall is idle, not too much happens from day to day but there are certain moments, whether enormous in their scope or subtle, that "make" a person's life and evolve them over time. I am some one who lives for these moments, I am some one who does not seek out life changing moments but instead bases my decisions of what I intend to gain out of something and sees whether these decisions take me. I feel like the most important things in life wind up finding you; it's just a matter of being able to step outside of your comfort zone and make wise decisions and accept what fate will bring into your life. To me, fate and freewill combine in one's life to create their destiny.
     There were a few scenes in this movie that made me feel negatively. One scene was filmed in what looked like the poor middle east and there is a father-like figure talking about how his family shared one small room and how he had a mentally disabled son whom they had to literally tie to a pole everyday to keep him from wandering off. It made me appreciate how high of a respect for all life we have in America and how inhumanely less fortunate people are treated in third world countries. When you consider that the man and his family live in a poor region where education is available for very few, you realize that there really is not much else he can do for his disabled son to keep him safe, but such a crude method as tying someone to a pole really had an impact on me. Another powerful scene was the one that showed the tragedy that occurred during the Love Festival in Germany. Thousands of people were gathered to have a goodtime and suddenly tragedy struck out of nowhere killing 18 people. Did the people who were crushed in the tunnel deserve to die that after noon? No. But it reaffirmed with me how fate and move one's life in often cruel ways. I am sure good people died in the tunnel that day. However, fate shows us how life simply is not fair, and we cannot expect it to be or even try to ensure it to be. Certain things are outside of our control and will always be. To me, the most liberating moment in my life was when I accepted that life isn't fair and I realized that I can still move on, prosper, and have a positive influence if I am prepared to embrace the bad and the good and not let either get to my head. The sooner you can accept that life isn't fair, the sooner you can move on to making the world a better place.
     To me, being human means to live with integrity, honesty, and courage. This was shown numerous times during the film in how it depicted people simply trying to make the best out of their lives, be thankful for what they have, and their endless yearn to do better. We as humans are constantly searching for meaning in life and an explanation of what we cannot comprehend. This is because it is simply human nature to feel stable and secure. Such is the reason why we value our family above all things. We wish to act harmoniously with nature and the universe yet find ourselves further from this each day as we instead connect more with "stuff". To me, there are two sides to every person, their public and their natural selves. The way people act in public can often be crude, emotionally unattached and look like a desperate plea for conformity to any group that will take them in. Public life makes people often times look very selfish because we are constantly judging ourselves and each other. Then there's private life. You can observe this side of a person when you get to know them extremely well and you establish a relationship with them when no one is try to impress the other. This is when you get to know people best, when they are most candid. I know many many people who are much more enjoyable to be around privately than privately. When you strip people away from the impression that they need to fit in our that they are being judged and simply get to know them, you find that people are very similar. We all have consciences. We all are compassionate. We all value hard work and look down upon the simply lazy person. We're all wild, We're all free. We all believe, whether it is in a religious figure or in something haven't been able to identify. Figuring out life's mysterious and achieving a sense of understanding are what all humans are in pursuit of. Also, when you get to know some one extremely well, you realize that we all despise people who act only to be impressive in public. People who strive for only popularity or material possessions. Basically, as you get to know people in a deeply person way, you realize that we are all extremely alike and most of disagreements stem from the way people act in public, not the truly emotional events and about life. I think that people all have universal emotions and we all want to do good, they way that people portray these things in their lives, however can often become distorted. To me, the most admirable  person is the same person who is strong both willfully and even to a certain degree physically both privately and publicly. A person who is able to put things in perspective and not loose their cool when challenge. A person who firmly rooted without being ignorant. A person who can interpret the difference between a beggar and someone who is helpless. A person who has purpose in their lives and lives with integrity for they know that everything that occurs in this universe and as an effect, whether minute or incomprehensibly large on everything else in the universe. If you figure out a way to do this, tell me how.
     All humans share the same emotions. We all have happiness, sadness, doubt, pride...the list goes on and on. However, these emotions take different forms in peoples' lives all around the world. For example, American parents feel extremely proud when their child graduates high school as that moment is a big turning point in their lives. However, a family in say Pakistan may feel the same emotion of pride when their child learns how to take care of the family's flock of goats because that means that their child will have the ability to prosper and provide for their family in a society where education is not as common or revered as highly. People as a whole are extremely competitive as well and revere family with the utmost of our ability. The quest to exceed has long been an endeavor of humanity.
     This film is filled with examples of juxtapositions. In one moment, after observing a poor family in the middle east where water and natural resources are scarce, the movie switches to a lawn being watered in wealthy Dubai where they obviously have water to spare. Another example would be when the film shows the crowded streets of India where people get around on mules, scooters, or on foot and then it switches to an image of a man taking his Lamborghini out for a spin.
     I would definitely recommend this film to a friend. It depicts the way life is lived around the world and provides a good sense of just who the other people we share this Earth with, are. To actually see the way that people around the world live gave me a new sense of awareness for what the world is actually like. It showed by  that while America is probably the overall best place in the world to be born into and to live, it is far from the norm. Life in a Day also showed me that most people around the world aren't unlike myself, and it did a masterful job of expressing the wonderous, passionate, and ceaseless human spirit.