1.7
June 23, 2009

On Pulp Fiction, and Yoga. ~ via Scott Anderson.

If the Briefcase Fits…on Pulp Fiction, and…Yoga?

You can learn a thing or two about yoga from the movies. Most recently for me it was Pulp Fiction.

Aside from the fact that the f-bomb is dropped a total of 281 times in the film, (I was bored) the question becomes, where do you find inspiration? My personal belief is that you always find it wherever you look for it. The other night I looked for it in my DVD player and a bag of popcorn.

For the uninitiated, the events of the story unfold for the viewer in a non-linear timeline. The story is fragmented and at first, its nearly impossible to determine what one scene has to do with the next. But in the end, Quentin Tarantino brings the story full circle making sense of all the events leading up to the last scene.

…well, except for the mysterious briefcase, but we’ll get to that later.

Do you ever feel the events in your life are not happening in the right order? Consider the possibility that every element needed to complete the picture of your life is taking place, and that life asks us to put the puzzle pieces together ourselves. Remember, part of the joy of life is in the assembly, and we have all been created to create.

I’ve talked to many people about yoga and what it means to them. Everyone sees it differently, describes it uniquely and brings the practice into their life in a very personal way. In Pulp Fiction terms, this individual perspective is ‘The Briefcase.’

In several scenes, Tarantino brings our attention to a briefcase. It’s the center of the movie, as everyone wanted to get their hands on it. However, you never find out what coveted object lies within. Was it diamonds or gold? A human soul? The theories are endless, but Quentin Tarantino intended that the contents of the briefcase be filled in by each individual viewer.

It’s the same with yoga. Yoga is what you think it is. Is it a moving meditation? A conduit to spirituality? A system to cultivate better health. A practice to calm the mind and reduce stress? Every time you come to the mat, you answer those questions. Not only that, but your answer today might be different than yesterday’s.

As you go through your practice this week, consider the following:
1. Sometimes its good to feel off balance and look at things out of order.
2. Your perspective is unique, and each of us sees something different.
3. A Quarter Pounder with cheese in Paris is called a Royale with cheese.

Okay, at least two of those points are completely valid.

We are all looking for answers. Sometimes we find them in unique and unexpected places like a song or a film. Wherever the answers or the inspirations lies, trust that the events in your life will all come together, no matter what order they come in.

Next time we’ll talk about some sweet and tender moments from Fight Club.

Scott Anderson.

“Whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought, and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me. I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me.” ~ Virginia Satir

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