“Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future". Will Smith
I watched Another Earth last night with my husband. Not a huge fan of sci-fi films I wasn't expecting to enjoy it but with a big batch of homemade salsa and some tortillas I was prepared to give it a go.
What I wasn't expecting was the touching and sensitively covered development of the father and son relationship between Cypher (Will Smith) and his son Katai (Jaden Smith). Cypher blames Katai for a past event and battles with acceptance, forgiveness and moving forward. There is a lot of underlying anger, resentment and guilt under the surface but I won't spoil the movie and tell you how that works out.
Cypher has to coach Katai in ways to face his fears using the same techniques I teach in mindfulness. Katai is encouraged to step into the moment using all five senses to notice his external and internal surroundings. Noticing what you can feel, hear, see, touch, to focusing on breath really does help you step out of fight or flight anxiety and ground you in the here and now.
Will Smith makes a great speech in the movie “Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present, and may not ever, exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me danger is very real but fear is a choice.We are all telling ourselves a story."
If fellow movie goers take just one thing away from this movie I hope it's that fear is a choice. What do you choose?
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