About a quarter into the movie I started thinking about Tolkein's thoughts while writing this book. I started wondering who in their right mind thinks of the creatures he does. But then I let myself think a little deeper and suddenly The Hobbit became a metaphor for life as many of us know it now. Many of us are at the beginning, we have just be beckoned on a journey. Our curiosity is peaked, but we are resistant. Something deep down inside is screaming, but we have so many walls built the sound is faint, and still we are very resistant.
We have our routine, our mental Hobbit hole. That faint little voice is getting louder though, we still only hear a whisper but deep down she's causing quite a scene. People can see this in you, even if you don't see it in yourself. It's Gandolf's mark on the Hobbit door... your mark to bear.
You let it sit, you try to ignore the whispers and the people that see it in you, and you can be pretty successful, you've been practicing for years. But someone else or something else barges in, and then six or seven more somethings barge in, and that little voice is screaming at the top of her lungs and it's not forgotten anymore.
Whatever it is that barges in starts making a big ol' mess of that mental (and physical) Hobbit hole. It isn't necessarily rude, they may say please or thank you, or they may try to clean a bit after themselves, but they (thoughts, a person, a group of people) make a big ruckus and are loud and you can't hear your old thoughts. You try, very hard, but for the moment the other sounds are too loud.
Then the actual proposition comes, not just the hint of it, the actual proposition. No one is dancing around the idea anymore. It's on the table. And there is much resistance still in your head. So much resistance. So you sleep on it maybe, and something, who knows what, tugs at you. You wake up, and it almost seems too late, so you take off running... you're going on this journey, you're ready for this adventure.
Here's the deal, I believe, to have a truly fulfilling life, we need to go on this adventure.
It might not be the journey Bilbo Baggins goes on, and I really hope not considering the creatures he runs in to... but your journey will be long, and sometimes it will seem fun, other times it will seem like a nightmare. We might not actually meet up with an actual Orc, but you better believe some of the things you might come up against (your own demons perhaps) will be just as gruesome, just as foul.
But still you must keep going.
You will have people with you along the way. Don't take them for granted. It won't always seem like you can trust them and it won't always seem to them like you can be trusted, but when it comes down to it, you need each other in really tight situations, and really big messes. You both will be on this journey for your own reasons, you both will face your own demons. When the spots get really tight and when it everything seems lost despite the demons, you'll help each other out.
Sometimes your demons won't appear as Orc, but instead they will appear as something shiny and beautiful. Something that seems to have a great deal of power, and can help you to be better than you have ever been. You'll notice, however, that this something will also bring out a dark side, be careful with those shiny things. Use them only as you must.
I could go on and on for another handful of paragraphs here but the take away is:
Go on the adventure. Help others and in turn let them help you. Beat the orcs, come face to face with the dragons, and use the shiny objects sparingly. If used too often they might reflect an image of yourself you just don't like.
Go forth. Be brave.
xoxo
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