No, this isn’t another indie movie. As promised, I had more thoughts on the movie, but they were of a more personal nature and didn’t fit into a movie review. This post may be a little more private in nature then I’ve posted before, but there’s something I found working through all of this that I thought was worth sharing.
One of the greatest aspects of this movie was that it helped me remember what it was like to fall in love. The feelings that you get when you can’t wait to be with someone, the bliss and high that occurs with knowing that you are with the “right” person, the pure ecstasy that comes from spending time with them. If you’ve ever felt this way, you know what I’m talking about. Until watching this movie, I had forgotten those feelings existed.
I haven’t dated anyone (seriously) for two years. You may not think this is a big deal, but you have to know a little bit about me. I was the guy in high school that dated a lot of people. Up until my last relationship, I’ve had 9 fairly serious girlfriends. That’s a lot of girlfriends to cover over the span of 6 years (not counting this 2 year drought).
But my latest relationship ended a bit… well… rocky is the nicest way of putting it. I’m not going to get into the details of that here, but just know that it made me very bitter and jaded about relationships in general. Ever since that point I’ve never liked anybody ever again. Now you might be able to contribute this to two things, either A) no one has been appealing enough to like or B) I’ve been too bitter to allow myself to like anyone. Regardless of the reason, I’ve never been hardcore attracted to anyone since.
But watching (500) Days of Summer and seeing Tom and Summer fall in love stirred up those memories of my own life when I was in love. It helped remind me that I too once felt those feelings and that I felt those feelings at the beginning of my last relationship, you know, the one that ended poorly.
I remember wanting to spend lots of time with this individual, being excited to learn new aspects about her personality, finding out little quirks and mannerisms about her. I savored every new nugget of information learned and tried to enjoy every moment of time that was spent with her. People could see this new found bliss in my eyes, they knew that I was with someone that truly made me happy. I had forgotten what it was like to feel that way about someone. I had forgotten that it was possible.
So what happened between the fairy tale beginning and the horrific end? Well, that’s a story I’m not going to share on the interwebs, but life has a funny way of working itself out. (500) Days of Summer reminded me that love is out there and that I can’t be bitter about relationships. I was in love once, and chances are likely I will be again. What is important is that I keep myself open to the possibility of finding that love.
Do you have a lesson of love you’ve learned from your own life? Go ahead, open up and share them below! I’d love to hear them.
