Are You Disappointed?

I like David Duchovny as an artist, and that’s a bit of a weird, random thing, but he wrote a book years back called, ‘Bucky F*cking Dent’ from the viewpoint of a Boston fan.

It was a well-rounded novel that was filled with good characters and compassion. I used the father-son relationship in the book as a springboard for the son and stepfather that I wrote about in ‘The Big D’.

Last night I watched a movie with Duchovny and Meg Ryan - less for the romantic slant between the two - and more for the fact that I knew it would be a well-rounded effort with compassion and good characters.

It was about two people who run into one another after 25 or 30 years and they talk about their lives as how they played out.

Meg Ryan asks the question.

“Are you disappointed with how life worked out?”

It was just a general question that I think sometimes people my age consider.

In our 20’s we have a lot to plan and look forward to, we map it out, and then we spend a whole lot of time trying to make all the dreams come true.

And then, we get to the point where there are more days behind the cart than what’s in front of the horse, and we think:

“Did I get there?”

There’s a lot of rage and anger bubbling beneath the surface in this country.

Most of it is misdirected and misguided.

When Ryan’s character asked the question the first thought I had was:

“I’m disappointed in my country.”

They also paraphrased  a Tom Petty line that I’ve always loved.

‘Most things I worried about, didn’t happen anyway.’

There’s not a lot a single person can do to change the course that a nation is on.

I can’t worry about it.

Am I disappointed in my life?

Not even a little.

There’s pain in all of our lives and horrific losses can certainly dim the lights.

But worry and despair aren’t productive and wasting days doesn’t interest me in the least.

I hope that you can look back and what you expected to do is closely lined up with what you did.

‘What Happens Later?’ - decent flick for sure.