I began the day with sudden images and body remembrances of an escrima or
arnis drill Morgan used to teach during weapons class years ago -- it
utilizes a short stick or wakazashi in one hand, the other hand free, and
consists of five steps on each side; when you finish one side, you do the
other, because the drill is done with a partner.
I haven't done the drill for years, but I remembered all the nuances, all
the little tips and secrets Morgan showed me over the year or two he
continued teaching it. And I wanted desperately to do it with someone right
that moment as I was getting out of bed so that I wouldn't lose it. But, of
course, I had no such opportunity. The movement is still tracing its way
through my body.
And this evening, we watched Fight Club. I still remember watching it in the
theater, and how it affected me then -- and it affects me in many of the
same ways now. There's some cultural references I 'get' more now --
references to Ikea, and now I understand groups and guided meditation and
therapy better. And there's new references, too -- the image of the
buildings falling is much different now that the WTC buildings have been
viewed collapsing.
But the message, the message is still the same, still present. Do things own
us, or do we own them? What do I most want to do before I die, and am I
doing it? These are big questions for a film to raise, and I'm still
surprised that Fight Club remains such a huge hit and success because of
them. And they're not necessarily buried in the film -- though I can see how
many people might simply glorify the violence in the film, and pass over the
message. I find the violence is a part of the message -- can you teach
yourself to live with pain, that pain is transient and ceases? can you learn
to stop living in fear?
So my day was marked by violence, beginning and end. The middle was all
consumer fluff. And hedonism. But hey, that's okay, too.
