The Hollywood movie, “The Joker,” was “arguably” the best movie of 2019. Directed by Todd Phillips with Joaquin Rafael Phoenix as the star actor went on to win numerous awards. The movie tells the backyard story of Batman’s villain, The Joker, in whom nothing much is known about his rough and painful past nor the circumstances that led to his brutal future. Depression is one of the major themes of the movie.
When I did personal research about the movie, I discovered the script of the movie had taken almost a year to write. Apart from reading and practicing the script, the Star actor Joaquin Rafael Phoenix had to lose weight in order to look like the Joker in his early years. The script had to be adjusted when it was discovered that Phoenix had lost more weight than intended. It was a movie of the century.
However, my endpoint of all these is not just because I want you to watch the movie but because it is necessary for you to understand why your life matters and the importance of you taking it more seriously than you do now. There are moments you won’t feel like it. There are moments your life won’t make sense, or you would go through confusing moments, and you would want to throw in the towel and give up.
Yet, when that time comes, understand that it is still part of the script: Your own script. How you act determines how many would want to watch it. A lecturer of mine once told me that “a person without challenges is living a fraudulent life.”
You are a story in motion waiting to be told. You are a lyric that will turn into a song. The issue is not the story or lyrics per se. Rather, it is what people will hear when your life is played like a song. Every experience of yours should be taken as a course that people will learn from. Don’t feel ashamed, don’t feel rejected. Your experiences are all part of the script; that’s if you choose to see it that way.
I’ve determined that when my life is being sung to the ears of people, may one word that comes to their mind be hope. My pains and hidden stories would become written pages that will birth hope. When people hear of the hidden sacrifice I paid, they will be energized knowing “tough times don’t last only tough people do.”
What would people see when your life is projected onto the stage? What will people experience when your life is being sung? What will they learn when they read about you? You have the power to change the narratives. You are a script. You are a story. You are a song. May you continue to peep through the window of God’s grace. Amen.
