The True Meaning Of Life
By Pat A. FlemingPublished: July 2017The Years have passed by,
In the blink of an eye,
Moments of sadness,
And joy have flown by.
People I loved,
Have come and have gone,
But the world never stopped,
And we all carried on.
Life wasn't easy,
And the struggles were there,
Filled with times that it mattered,
Times I just didn't care.
I stood on my own,
And I still found my way,
Through some nights filled with tears,
And the dawn of new days.
And now with old age,
It's become very clear,
Things I once found important,
Were not why I was here.
And how many things,
That I managed to buy,
Were never what made me,
Feel better inside.
And the worries and fears,
That plagued me each day,
In the end of it all,
Would just fade away.
But how much I reached out,
To others when needed,
Would be the true measure,
Of how I succeeded.
And how much I shared,
Of my soul and my heart,
Would ultimately be,
What set me apart.
And what's really important,
Is my opinion of me,
And whether or not,
I'm the best I can be.
And how much more kindness,
And love I can show,
Before the Lord tells me,
It's my time to go.
Little Women is a novel that has experienced multiple movie adaptations throughout the years. The most recent one came out in 2019 and hosts a stellar cast. Directed and screenplay by the renowned Greta Gerwig, the movie stars Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronen, Timothee Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Lauren Dern, and James Norton. Filmed in Massachusetts where the original novel was penned and set by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women is a classic portrayal of domestic bliss and struggles and what it was to be a woman in the 18th century, and Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation is a respectable tribute to it.
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The story follows 4 sisters and their neighbor, Laurie, into adulthood as they navigate life and heartbreak as children and adults. To emphasize domestic struggles and bliss, Greta Gerwig shot the scenes where the characters’ childhood through a somewhat golden camera lens to portray the ‘golden glow of childhood, a time of innocence and minor disagreements and seemingly cute problems which wreck the children’s innocent hearts. Each sister has different experiences despite living in the same house and being raised by the same set of parents and experiencing seemingly the same circumstances yet, they all grow into their own person, with their own set of values and experiences and their own unique personalities. The adult part of the film does not have the golden camera lens in fact, the vision appears much sharper and cold, as the harsh realities of life set in as adults.
Moreover, the characters often speak over each other, creating a ‘symphony of sound’ and a lively chatter that follows the characters well into adulthood, only that the content of the chatter changes as time and the characters mature however, this finalizes the fact that happiness and bliss are not reserved for childhood only, in fact, it is a part of life. Life, especially adulthood, is not just one thing after the other, the things overlap and joy is found even while something worrying is going on. Not single emotion dominates life.