You think too much!

I woke up this morning still unsure about whether I enjoyed “Vanity Fair”. I think I am resolved to stick it in the “wait until DVD” category, despite the beautiful costumes and stunning Reese Witherspoon. It was a rather long movie, and didn’t move too quickly but I got home last night and looked at the book, and I was actually impressed someone could condense those million pages into a 2 hour-plus cinematic event. No wonder I abandoned the book after about 10 chapters; it seems quite an undertaking even now.

Reese’s character of Becky Sharp in last night’s movie was determined to rise up in society, because she believed she belonged there. So she approached this social climbing with determination, almost to the exclusion of human relationships. She had her eyes fixed on one goal, and did whatever she could to reach it. And I suppose the ultimate lesson of the movie was that such ruthless determination always costs dearly.

So on the back of that reflection, I am left wondering what it takes to get what you want in life. If you’re content with your situation, have you settled? Should you give up on a life goal, if what it takes to achieve it seems like a lot of hard work? I guess I’m pursuing my travel plans with the same determination that Becky showed in the film. I have that timeline set for myself, and can’t let any unexpected life events get in the way of that.
But then there is Gem’s easygoing nature that makes me wonder whether loosening the reins a bit and easing pressure on myself wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Gem lets life move her along, and doesn’t live her life by deadlines. I envy that free spiritedness, and I would like to think that once I’ve got the travel “thing” out of my system, maybe then I can be carefree to that extent. Okay, can you plan to be carefree? Isn’t that just a beautiful contradiction?! Oh man….