"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."*

Its been a while.

I just got back from a triple feature with Ashley. We saw Valkyrie, Bedtime Stories, and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which might I mention was the saddest movie I have seen in a long time.

If you aren't familiar with Benjamin Button, it is in short a story of a man who is born a small baby with an old man's face, who becomes younger as the years pass, and dies as a small baby with a baby's face.

Throughout all of this, Benjamin loves a girl/woman named Daisy. When they both "catch up to each other" around 45 years old, the movie depicts the most perfect and beautiful relationship that they share. They don't fight. They love each other. They only want more of each other. They only want the best for each other.

I want this. I know it is a movie, I understand that the drama of everyday life was left out of the story. But is it wrong to hope for a relationship like this? Is it possible?

Does the "right" couple behave the "right" way in all situations? Under stress, commotion, sickness, loss? How would 45 year old Benjamin and Daisy react to these situations?

I realize this is a strange example seeing as Benjamin is living his life backwards. But separating the actual emotions they are feeling at that perfect time in their relationship from the actual characters, and comparing the emotions to my own relationships, I have to wonder if I am as passionate as they are. I wonder if my reactions to common stressful situations would be as thoughtful as either of theirs.

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After considering this, my thoughts took on a "carpe diem" tone and I began to think about what I'm doing in my life that makes me proud. If I think about life as being "but a glimpse," do these stressful situations even matter anymore? What sense does it make to argue? On that same token, what sense does it make to be with people who bring you down? What would I do if I lived my life according to what makes me completely happy? Sometimes I wonder.

*Quote courtesy of Henry David Thoreau (of course).