I just watched a movie. It was called 'The Astronaut Farmer'.
Now, you should know that I am a movie buff. I LOVE movies! I always have, they speak to me.
But lately, there hasen't been much that I've really liked. I always look for a message. Something that inspires, something that will give me a different look at life, something that will make my spirit soar.
I had seen this movie on the shelf. It caught my attention, but i never rented it. It just was never the right time.
Tonight was the time to see this movie. I was with the right person, and it was the right movie. I think you know what I mean.
Now, this might seem like a movie review, and I guess in a way it is, but not really. This movie is the best thing I've seen in a year. It did inspire me. It did make me dream. Anyone who has seen it will understand that reference.
You see, one of my dreams has ALWAYS been to go to my back yard, and jump in my rocket ship, and fly off to great adventure. I read Starship Troupers, I watch Star Wars, I am a great fan of Star Trek. So anyone who builds a rocket ship in their own back yard, of course appeals to me.
But that's not the message that spoke to me. It wasn't the dream. It wasn't the rocket. It wasn't the 'Great Adventure' that taught me a lesson.
No, the lesson was much more simple, much more subtle than that. And this is what it was.
In the movie, the farmer failed. He spent years, lead his family to the brink of ruin, gave up nearly everything for his dream, and he failed. It nearly cost him his life. And when he came back to his life, he was ready to quit. To give up on his dream. To just be an ordinary person, this dreamer. This man who was different. This man who taught us all that dreams were worth dying for. But his family wouldn't let him give up his dream. They needed his dream too. His wife told him, 'without that rocket, we're just a disfunctional family'.
And even that is not what impressed me. What really got me, was the real reason he did this spectacular thing.
It was for his children.
He taught them to follow their dreams. He taught them that even when you fail, you just pick youself up and start again, and do what it takes to achieve your dream. He taught them the importance of living a dream. Of finding that thing that is so important, and making it your reality.
It wasn't for the acolaides. Who could go into space in a rocket they built themselves and not end up on Leno? It wasn't for a desire to see the earth from 17,000 miles. It wasn't to prove his skills as an engineer.
It was to teach his children to believe. To believe in themselves. To believe in their dreams.
If i can be half the father that this movie portrayed, then I've been the rocket man too.
