At The Movies.

Tired of Valentine's Day activities* and completely bored, Big Mike and I decided last night to head up to Arvada and see a movie at the Elvis Cinema. It's one of those theaters that plays movies a couple months after they debut, so we payed $3.50 and headed inside to see Marley and Me.

The entrance was packed full of junior highers kissing each other, big families crowding around the candy displays, and serious-looking teenagers buying popcorn for their oh-so-clingy Valentine dates. Big Mike and I plowed our way through the crowded lobby and had the un-enthusiastic ticket taker rip our stubs and point vaguely off to his left, muttering, "theater four." Walking into the darkened room, we made our way to some empty seats and sat down just as the movie started.

Marley and Me. It's basically a movie about a young couple starting their family, who first decided to get a puppy who grows up to be a rambunctious and out of control best friend. The story line follows the couple and Marley as they have first one, then two, and finally three kids. I won't say how the movie ends for safety reasons,** but I can tell you that it was one of those movies where you walk out thinking about life and its mysteries and complexities.

Those are the best movies, in my opinion... Movies that make you see new beauty in previously mundane thing. Movies that make you look at your own life and wonder, "Am I worth making a movie out of?" Movies that spur you on to write yourself a story worth re-telling once you're gone.

When I die, will anyone want to look back and trace my life's course through time? Will I be in history books? In the minds of the people? Will there be any movies made about my life? Will what I do while here on Earth echo after I leave?

During my winter term class, Prof. Hartwig said that his favorite quote regarding leadership is this: "Leadership is not measured by what you do, but by what others do because of you."

So this brings me back to the here and now. I think we have to ask ourselves, "Is what I'm doing worth anything? Is how I'm learning or speaking or interacting with others counting for something?" And more importantly, I think we have to make sure it is. We should live our lives realizing that making history or changing the world isn't nearly as impossible as the books and movies make it out to be. Everyone starts somewhere insignificant. Everyone knows of other more famous or distinguished people who have come before. Yet everyone has a chance.


Thanks for reading,

-Daniel Kenneston



*Or lack thereof
**Ruining Harry Potter for Mingy is something she'll never let me live down, so I've learned my lesson.