hope

I have watched three very human films over the last several weeks: Into the Wild (2007), The Road (2009), and Che (2008) Parts 1 and 2 — in that order. I found Into the Wild both inspiring and depressing. I am still processing (or trying not to think about) The Road, which was quite challenging to watch. Part 2 of Che, which I watched most recently, left me feeling quite depressed. My initial thoughts revolved around a personal need to have something more than trying to reduce the suffering and untold destruction our species is imposing on all other species and the planet.

The cynicism that has to a degree quashed most of the optimism I try to have has many roots. I have been looking for hope, a reason and a means to move beyond hope. This seems a perpetual task. Sometimes it is fruitful, often it is not (perhaps caught up in my recurrent cynicism. I do so good things, though these ‘good’ things often embody some of the same old shit that the ‘bad’ is predicated on.

Is interesting how things change in life — priorities, desires, the way we relate to each other, what we do and our expectations (amongst many other things). Our lives are very structured, sometimes in ways we do not necessarily like and some speak out against and seek to challenge. It seems that when we are young (perhaps I am romanticising) there are more things that we would like to do than the time required to do them. When older, if/when we find we have substantial free time available it seems some (many, most?) of us are at a loss for what to do…

In an interesting piece, though one still constrained in critical reflection by aspects of the ideological crisis it seeks to (partly) challenge, the current Australian Prime Minister has commented on contemporary politics and economics.