I’m Ready Now

I recently killed two hours on a flight home from Boston by watching the movie “The Descendants,” starring George Clooney, which was set in Hawaii. Maybe you’ve seen it.

 The movie opens with Clooney’s character explaining that his wife has been in a coma for 23 days, due to a catastrophic boating accident that occurred while he was away on a business trip.

In her hospital room, Clooney is keeping a silent vigil by the bedside of his wife, Liz. The camera focuses tightly on his face, while the voiceover illuminates his thoughts. 

When I heard about the coma, I wasn’t even in town.… We hadn’t spoken in three days. In a way, we hadn’t really spoken in months.

If you’re doing this to get my attention, Liz, it’s working.

I’m ready now. I’m ready to talk. I’m ready to change. I’m ready to be a real husband and a real father. Just wake up. Please Liz, just wake up.

Clooney’s character is coming to the sickening realization that his chance to invest and rebuild his relationship with his wife has unexpectedly and irreversibly vanished. This strikes me as both incredibly tragic and so incredibly human. I don’t think there’s an adult on this planet who isn’t putting something off right now. Maybe it’s a difficult conversation. Or a task that doesn’t come easily to us. We postpone discomfort, conflict, and vulnerability. And yet there is no guarantee that we will have the opportunity to accomplish what we also recognize is needed.

Mary Oliver’s most famous poem concludes with the words, Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? It is so hard for most of us to walk through every day remembering that any given day is indeed a precious gift, and no others are guaranteed. But there is nothing truer.   

Tell me, what are you putting off right now?