Tuesday, February 2, 2010

LOST

For a lot of people, this post is going to sound a bit melodramatic, but as I watched the pilot episode of LOST yesterday at lunch, it started to hit me why this show means so much to me, and how it has both led and followed me through the six most pivotal years of my life. As you may know, tonight marks the beginning of the final season.

In September 2004, I sat down alone, still married, in the living room of the house I owned and was soon to sell after the divorce. I sat down to watch a show about a group of strangers whose lives converged in a plane crash. The thing they didn't know is that every moment of their lives (every encounter, every decision) had led them to get on that plane. They were SUPPOSED to be there. By the end of the first few episodes, it was evident to us, the viewers, that the island was more than just an island.

Our lives are like those of the passengers of Flight 815. We all have our crashes and smoke monsters and whatever other unknown entities might plague us...good, bad, or indifferent. The point is that we are all lost in one way or another, and no one knows what will happen next. But, as a matter of fact we are not lost. In fact, we're on a very direct path to tomorrow. And, as fast as 108 minutes can count down to almost certain doom, we're able to push the button (4 8 15 16 23 42) and move on. Tomorrow becomes today. Today becomes yesterday. It almost always does.

I will be sad to see the show go. I'll miss the speculation and the analysis of every episode. I'm going to miss the characters with all of their faults. But, as with all good things, it must come to an end. With LOST, as in life, I have no idea what that end will be. It could be the same as the beginning, which in that metaphor, would probably be most appropriate.

[c]


1 comment:

  1. As a fellow Lost fan, I love this post. I, too, will miss the show and its reminder that although what happens to us may seem random, and we don't understand why they do, they all have a way of making sense in the end. Whether or not you're religious, it seems clear that there's some kind of universal order that exists, and we're all connected in ways we may not even guess. Lost reminds me to look at the little things that happen in daily life and wonder about their larger significance. Whether or not I'm pouring the meaning into these things, doing so certainly makes life more interesting!

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