I wish the title of this post was my own words but it’s actually a line from a poem by EE Cummings. Before you think wow she is a poetry queen, I found this poem through the film Charlie St Cloud and it gave me this week’s theme / topic – moving on or to use the film’s tagline – life is for living.
If you haven’t seen it, this film is about Charlie St Cloud a hunky young sailing enthusiast who loses his younger brother in a tragic accident and finds it impossible to let go and move on with his life. His brush with death left him able to see his brother’s spirit and he plays baseball with him every day at sunset. Enter a girl sailing enthusiast Tess who helps him realise you can let go but still love and that he should be living his life and not clinging to his grief.
I love the message in this film. We’ve all had things in our past that have been hard to move on from – death and grief, heartbreak, losing love or just regretting mistakes – and it’s so easy to keep yourself locked up in that moment, to let the pain overwhelm you and stop you from living life the way you did before.
What you need to remember is that the people you lost wouldn’t want you to let grief stop you from living, they would want to see you be happy to let life and love heal your wounds and for you to move on, keeping them in your hearts.
It’s okay to remember the past, to honour it and treasure it, to keep it as part of you forever but you also need to look to the future, to give yourself peace and to allow yourself to be happy.
The poem they recite in the film is called ‘Dive for Dreams’ – here it is in full:
dive for dreams
or a slogan may topple you
(trees are their roots
and wind is wind)
trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward)
honour the past
but welcome the future
(and dance your death
away at the wedding)
never mind a world
with its villains or heroes
(for good likes girls
and tomorrow and the earth)
in spite of everything
which breathes and moves, since Doom
(with white longest hands
neating each crease)
will smooth entirely our minds
-before leaving my room
i turn, and (stooping
through the morning) kiss
this pillow, dear
where our heads lived and were.
I hope we can all remember this message and know that moving on does not mean have to mean letting go and love will follow us wherever life takes us.
Have you ever struggled with moving on? Has pain ever stopped you living your life fully?
Vix x
Lovely post! The message is well worth remembering. 😉
Thanks Laura!
Such a great post! I think change is always difficult to deal with. I haven’t seen this movie yet, but Zac Efron is so gorgeous!
Thanks Sophia 🙂 You’re right on both points!!
ha, i should have read your post before writing mine. we all have things we struggle to move on from, that we feel were too precious to lose. thanks for your comments, you gave me a lift on this rainy day!
Yeah we had similar thoughts 😉 You’re welcome, it was nice to see we all share these feelings – we’re not alone!
This is a real good post! That movie had a fantastic message definitely! 🙂
Thanks 🙂 I know, I really enjoyed it despite the soppy bits lol
Lovely post. Thanks for sharing Vix 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Beautiful poem, and lovely thoughts!
Every experience can help us grow and learn something about ourselves, although it can be hard to see it that way at the time…
So true, if only we knew at the time!
When my grandmother died last June, I had a hard time moving on. A really hard time. I feel that just in the matter of these past few months, I’ve healed. I still miss her, but I feel that I have found joy in life again. I think I’d enjoy that movie… thanks for blogging about it!
So sorry for your loss and i’m glad you are healing, it takes time for sure and you’ll always keep her in your heart.
Great post, Vix. This is a hard issue to tackle and you wrote beautifully about it. Thanks for the movie review!
Thanks Rach 🙂
I’d love to see this movie… it’s now on my list. Thanks for an excellent and very thought-provoking post!!
I hope you enjoy it, let me know! Thanks 🙂
great post. I think you have to learn from the past to have a successful future. The hard parts of life are what really make us who we are, and they make the happy parts even better. Thanks for the post, I really enjoyed it. 🙂
-Em
ps. I really want to see that movie!
Thanks Em, good thoughts! The past def makes us who we are. Hope you enjoy it if you watch it 🙂