WATCHED: Wild

I watched the movie ‘Into the Wild’ yesterday. The movie is so poetic that it made me want to write. It brought back the ‘wild’ in me. My wild is the stream of thoughts I used to get from the black sky while sitting atop the winding staircase that leads up to the roof. It is familiar to the sound of calm I heard while canoeing at Lake Itasca.  It is even the handful of short poems I wrote, about crushes and heartbreaks.  It struck me that I had abandoned these abnormalities, for the wish to be real. To embrace life as it is and to act rather than muse or write. The movie reunited me with that emotionally artistic  trait and it was a joyous discovery.  I have heard a lot from friends about this movie. The fact that it is a true story enthralls everybody. I have seen people giving themselves the last name “Supertramp” on Facebook. It is understandable to wish to be like Alexander Supertramp. But to what extent? Here are my takeaways from the movie.

The story is of a writer who undertakes a journey to be free from society and see if he can live on his own. There are various factors leading him to this decision. Let us look at his ambition to travel and then to write about it. This ambition contrasted with my reason to stop turning every experience I had to ink. I had been suppressing the writer in me. I thought making the people and stories around me my profession was a bit unfair to them.  I thought that it is selfish to dig for experiences just so that I can write about it. I started to refrain and slowly lost the habit of delving into the joyous musings that came to me after being really inspired and appreciative of the beauty of things.  But now I see my writing goals a bit differently.  Yes, I want to be a writer. I need to call myself a writer first. So here I am finally fearlessly declaring that I am a writer. Not a hobby. Not a side job. Not even ‘I want to be a New York Times contributing op-ed writer after I am in a great position with a non-profit and can make opinions, observations, and predictions.’ It is a part of me and I need to, and thus, embrace it.

Both the first time I watched it and yesterday, I googled about the story. Somewhere on the internet, a commenter says that Chris McCandless alias Supertramp need not have died because he had been living quite close to an alternate route to cross the flooded river. I also learned from Google results that people are considering his a case of Schizophrenia. To consider someone who is experimenting life schizophrenic sounded sad. However it is plausible to tend to explore his state of mind; McCandless was indeed tackling his family depression issues. We also learn about his inquisitive childhood attribute.  I don’t want to nitpick on his mental state because he did not follow a path of self-depreciation.  He was brave enough to go searching for the brighter side of life that would solve his problems. Everybody needs some soul-searching now and then and McCandless needed one. He had just graduated from college and wanted to follow his own path to tackle life, a path far from the mundane. It is just like taking time off between changing careers. Or rebuilding self after a painful relationship.

McCandless  meets Wayne in South Dakota and when they talk about life and society, Wayne warns that he should not be thinking so deeply about people, their rules, and the society. I saw some truth in that but again, there are also that small percentage of people in the world who fall into McCandless’ category.  It is indeed a matter of choice. Which one would you ignore? The societal make up of family, profession, technology, and possession, or the inner self-aching to question the society and rebel and renounce the normal going-ons?

One major question I asked myself was if I’d be able to reconsider my life goals and be like him. No. I owe that to the people I love.  But I am a sucker for such experiences that send a stream of transcendent and equally simple energy my way. I need to at least try it out and I have been contemplating the best way to do so without being a heart-breaker like Alexander.  It did not end perfectly for him. He finally missed the comfort of society and right when he was planning his return, things turned around. He did take a risky path but succeeded in getting what he wanted. So, it might be risky, but look at each new person and place he saw, loved or hated, and carried on, one life lesson richer!