Today’s post is different from usual. I'm going into the topic of movies – specifically, inspirational movies with meaningful life lessons for us to learn.
To be honest, I don’t watch a lot of movies based on true story. I’m very selective as to what movies I watch, and in most cases I don’t just watch to be entertained. I want to take away from a movie something that I can readily apply to my life. Sometimes it’s a word. Sometimes it’s a phrase. And sometimes it’s an action that I can perfectly apply it in my life.
Here, the movie that give me motivation is "A Beautiful Mind".
It actually is an old movie by now, and it comes to be a great movie about severe mental illness illustrating the patient’s perspective.
John Nash is an awkward man, not good in social situations, but an amazingly talented mathematician. He is so good, in fact, that he spends most of his time trying to find a revolutionary discovery in mathematics. I like to think of it as a “Life formula”, or a discovery that will never happen. The twist of the movie, which happens about halfway through, is that Nash is suffering from a severe form of schizophrenia, and half of the situations that exist in his life, are only part of his “beautiful” mind.
One imaginary character that he creates is his roommate, Charles. Nash gets along very well with Charles, which makes I suspicious from the start, seeing that John Nash doesn’t really get along well with anyone else. The other character that Nash creates is named Parcher, who is working to solve a conspiracy case of an atomic bomb threat towards the U.S. When the conspiracy situation goes wrong in Nash’s head, that is when he is in need of mental help. He is taken into a psychiatric hospital, and receives intense treatment.
Upon returning home, the visions are suppressed, but so is every aspect of John Nash’s beautiful mind. He no longer can think right, feel right, or act right. He stops taking the medication, and loses another battle with his schizophrenia. Instead of going back to the hospital, he tries to battle the hallucinations on his own. This is the turning point of the movie, where Nash learns how to really live his life.
Schizophrenia has been defined as “split mind”. It refers not to a multiple personality split but rather to a split from reality that shows itself in disorganized thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions.
I learned that we have to live our life with joy and just follow the flow. Nash spends all of his days trying to find a formula that will change life. The irony, is that life doesn’t work out if we try to solve it like an equation. It is only when we let go and let life happen to us, that we will find our true happiness. We can get a terrible life if we try to solve it like nonexistent formula.
I discovered that life is more than making a discovery, or solving an equation. Actually, there are love and emotions involve. Instead of focusing his time on himself,Nash decides to go back to teaching classes, and shares his amazing knowledge with his students. All this, while ignoring the characters that took over his mind. This is where an amazing inspirational quote is mentioned by John Nash, which I will mention here:
“Are the hallucinations…gone?”
“No, but I’ve gotten used to ignoring them, and as a result, they’ve kind of given up on me. I think that’s sorta what it’s like with dreams and nightmares. We’ve gotta keep feeding them for them to stay alive”
That is one of the most true and inspirational quotes I have ever heard. Dreams will gradually disappear, if we do not focus on them, and take constant action towards them. Nightmares will continue, as long as we feed them our attention. John Nash wins a Nobel Peace Prize at the end of the movie, for his contributions to society. A Beautiful Mind is a movie about the importance of enjoying every day of life, and not getting caught up in ridiculous theories or fantasies for a future that may never be. If we don’t focus on the present moment, it may be the biggest regret in our life. Embrace life each day, don’t embrace a fantasy world.
