quote from the movie

[threestarsamy]

people feel like they dont deserve love...walking away quietly into empty spaces trying to close gaps to the past. what does this mean to you?

[Ascetic]

Amy,

To me, it means that a lot of people in this world feel as though they're not good enough to deserve someone's love. Maybe they've been abused. Maybe they've been rejected. Maybe they've been ostracized for being different. So they distance themselves from potential relationships, preferring the lesser pain of solitude over the pain of further, potential rejection. I'm guessing that they try and close the gaps in one of two ways: they either try to discover their own worth, dignity, and lovableness so they can accept someone's love, or they simply allow the emptiness of isolated places to protect them from further hurt (when you're surrounded by emptiness, there are no more gaps).

That's my take on it anyway.

John.

[ritesh]

happiness only real when shared..

[stilltrekker]

happiness only real when shared..

This was a poignant end to the movie. Was it truly one of the last things he wrote? But we know from his farewell sign and the grins on his face in the photographs that Chris DID experience happiness in the wilderness when alone as well. I see these words as not an invalidation to his earlier thoughts but as another step on his path, a new point in his own spiritual evolution.

No one here in the forum has mentioned their views on the presence or absence of an afterlife, and what that might be like. Don't you wonder whether death could perhaps NOT be "the end," but may instead by "the beginning" or at least a transition to something else? I think that was hinted at in the movie by the smile on his face and his reaching out to the brilliant blue sky and white light of the Beyond.

[GoNorth]

happiness only real when shared..

Was it truly one of the last things he wrote?

No, it wasn't. At least according to the book, he made this note by the end of July, just a few days before the first journal note about him feeling extremeley weak and so on.

[thewalldivision]

i know how important it is not to necessarily be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once in the most ancient ways.

[tove]

"When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it"

I love it. In the movie this is how Chris tells Tracy good bye. But actually it's a quote from a letter Chris wrote Ron Franz before he walked into the wild.

I really like how they still found a good place for it in the movie.

[bobenns]

No one here in the forum has mentioned their views on the presence or absence of an afterlife, and what that might be like. Don't you wonder whether death could perhaps NOT be "the end," but may instead by "the beginning" or at least a transition to something else? I think that was hinted at in the movie by the smile on his face and his reaching out to the brilliant blue sky and white light of the Beyond.

Here are some of my thoughts about death. None of us can escape it, no one gets out of this alive! No one has ever come back to tell us whats on the other side. We all hope there is something else there when we pass from this life, but we really don't know. It may be all still and quiet for eternity or we may be reborn as a dog or a snail, there are many different beliefs. For me whats important is what we make of this life we have today, find meaning in what we do today, we don't know that there will be a tomorrow or next week or next year. Today is the day we have to live, to love and to share.

In his self portraits Chris was reaching out to someone, smiling, showing them what he had done, holding up his kill etc. Yes he looks happy in his accomplishment, but he also looks desperate for recognition, for approval and acceptance. He is not satisfied just within himself, otherwise there would be no need to take these photos, to leave a record, to write in his journal. Self satisfaction is hollow. In his self portraits he was reaching out to his family, his friends and to all of us, he knew that eventually he would be found and the record would be there for us to see. In the end he knew he was going to die, but I don't believe he set out to die. Many of his journal entries were like chapter titles to remind him later when he would sit down to write.

When we know someone well and they pass away, we stand at their memorial thinking about their life, their ordinary life, the ordinary things they did and achieved, day after day living and doing what they did, all for what? What was the purpose, what was the meaning? If they were a good person we see the meaning in the little things they did, in the kind things, the gentle things, the sensitive things. And we can say this was a life well lived and lived with understanding, with kindness and with meaning. Chris was that kind of person, he touched others with his truth, his caring, his understanding. Everyone who got to know him also got to love him as a person. Now his story lives on in this world, in this life, through us, we feel it, we know it and we carry it forward, but Chris is gone from here, gone forever to some final resting place. We know not where. Perhaps we will meet him on the other side one day, that would be nice. But today is the day we have, yesterday is a memory and tomorrow only a promise, we live today, here and now. Today is the day that counts. What we do today is all we really have, then it is done. Lets make it a good day.

What we do in this life stays here. Chris's story, his journals and photos stay here with us and tell us who he was when he was here on this earth, walking among us. Its so tragic to know that such a fine young person with such tremendous sensitivity and insight, with so much to offer and so much promise had such a short life and in my opinion so little true happiness. His demons prevented him from knowing the true love of his family and others, he pushed all love away in his search for self and missed out on the very best things in life.

I know in my heart that when the days get near the end I will look back on my life and ask myself, what did I accomplish? was I successful? did I do more harm than good? was it worth it? Sometimes when people get old they realize that they wasted their life, squandered their days, wasted the opportunities, hurt others along the way and it hits them that they made these mistakes and its too late to go back and change, that their life has amounted to very little. These people often become very bitter about life, bitter towards others who did it differently, bitter towards young people who still have it ahead of them. I don't want to wake up one day to find I am old and bitter.

Chris was supposed to survive his adventure, he was supposed to come back with his pictures and journals and tell us his tale. The end of the movie is just fiction, we don't really know how he died, it wasn't pleasant I'm sure. The heartache he must have suffered in those final days, knowing he wouldn't be coming out of it alive. Knowing he would never see or touch his loved ones again. There is no glory in death. May he rest in peace.

[hotelgirl]

people feel like they dont deserve love...walking away quietly into empty spaces trying to close gaps to the past. what does this mean to you?

personally i think this is a nonsense quote. its a hippy thing to say. i wonder if theres any accuracy in that quote or if it was made up for the film?

[GoNorth]

i wonder if theres any accuracy in that quote or if it was made up for the film?

Yeah, that's what I thought, too. I guess the latter is the case.