I enjoyed The Odyssey so much on Friday, I went back again last night. If you haven't seen the movie yet, stop reading.

The movie is a remarkable feat in both filmmaking and storytelling. There's a particular scene (and theme) that has been rattling around in my brain.

After spending seven years on the beach with Calysypo, Odysseus is finally ready to return home. She says:

"You're a man who needs to control his fate. But you cannot control this. You must give yourself to the storm. And take your punishment. Give up the fight, give up the control, and live."

As someone who likes to be in control, this hit a little close to home. To be honest, it was as moved as I've ever been from a scene in a movie. Ten years ago, I felt I had complete control over my fate. Today, I'm not so sure.

Of course I still have control over my life (and more importantly must exert my power to both choose my path and respond to and from perceived ill fates), but perhaps it's the romantic in me (and some unexplainable signs from the universe at certain times in my life) that I now believe in the power of letting go to a degree. By letting go we can actually control our fate and perhaps end up where we are supposed to be, and more importantly - enjoy life much more along the way.

I'm also a positive nihilist, and this scene also immediately reminded me from a line from one of my favourite books, 'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior."

“There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all One, you see. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life; just do your best. Open your eyes and see you are for more than you imagine. You are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else, too!”

The other theme here is, Odysseus was finally ready to live again - and go home. He was also finally ready to face, head on, both his trauma and the consequences of his failures and his mistakes.

It's a lot easier to lay on the beach and eat lotus flower in order to forget and not deal with trauma, grief, and our own failings. However, that's no way to live.

I was reminded of another excerpt:

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could." - Louise Eldrich (novel 'Painted Drum')

This isn't just about romantic love - it's about chasing goals; your livelihood; and ultimately just living.

Give yourself up to the storm.