Point of View Is Everything

You're not stuck in your story.

- SUZANNE GIESEMANN

You know how it is in a theater when the movie ends. People either head straight for the exit or make a beeline for the restroom. I chose the latter one evening after attending a lighthearted but rather unremarkable film. For a few minutes, I had the 10-stall ladies’ room to myself.

And then, the blockbuster in the next theater let out. I stood at the sink washing my hands when a group of women who looked like they had just attended a funeral paraded in. Usually, in such circumstances, women chatter excitedly, expressing thoughts about the movie they just watched. In this case, no one said a word. A pall of depression hung in the air like acrid smoke.

Stunned by the gloomy aura that now filled the restroom, I asked the woman closest to me, “What movie did you just see?”

She exhaled her reply: “American Sniper.”

I shook my head as I returned to the lobby. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would willingly pay for an experience that left them so miserable. I had fully intended to see the movie at some point, but after experiencing the depressive effect it had on those in attendance, I had second thoughts.

And then, a thought bubbled up. My friend Lynette and I often joke about our souls sitting in the balcony of a theater watching ourselves in our human suits do silly things on the stage. We imagine one of our souls saying, “Oh! So she’s going to do that, is she?” And the other soul shakes her head and says warily, “I think she might!”

“Don’t do it!” both souls shout. And then, our two souls lean in for a closer look, munching mindlessly on popcorn. We groan as our human characters continue an unmistakable path toward some common human blunder, knowing full well no matter what. Still, we moan, “Oh, man, this one’s going to hurt!”