Life, Uh, Finds A Way - Random Post 1
Life, Uh, Finds A Way
From hating dinosaurs to loving them
When I was eight years old, my mom tricked me into watching one of the most traumatizing movies in my life: Jurassic Park (1993). She told me it was a movie about dinosaurs, but she didn’t tell me that dinosaurs were going to escape from their cages and start killing people. From that moment, I never listened to my mom’s movie recommendations ever again.
I started having the same nightmare over and over again. In that dream, my family and I were at a zoo, and in the middle of the zoo, there was a giant T-rex skeleton display. All of a sudden, the giant T-rex came to life and started chasing us. My family would sweep my younger sister off her feet, hold her tightly, and run away. I was left behind, alone. I never successfully outran the T-rex, and I would always wake up the moment its ginormous mouth was inches away from snapping my body in half. I’m not a religious person, but every night before bed, I would close my eyes and pray for the nightmare to go away. Sometimes my prayer was answered. Sometimes it was not. So I slept with a light on, surrounded by stuffed animals.
It was the dinosaurs that brought my hidden fear of abandonment to my face. I felt abandoned the moment my younger sister was born. My family gave all their attention to her, and I resented her for stealing my parents’ love. Eventually, I realized that my experience was a very common older sibling experience, and I no longer doubted my parents’ love for me.
Fast forward to when I was 14 years old, I somehow decided to watch Jurassic Park again on my own. Surprisingly, I fell in love with the movie. I was intrigued by the movie’s discussion on the ethics of creating life and humans’ greed to be God. My favourite quote from the movie was, “Life, uh, finds a way.” When I feel confused or lost in life, I will tell myself that quote over and over again. A year ago, I ended up getting a tattoo of this quote on my forearm. I see this tattoo as a symbol of my growth because I was able to turn Jurassic Park, one of my worst childhood traumas into something that is beautiful and empowering. I believe that our will to continuously grow and evolve is why life, uh, will always find a way.
Hi Judy! I don't think I've every seen Jurassic Park before. I do remember liking dinosaurs as a kid though. I like how you provided a deeper connection from your life to the movie and your dislike for dinosaurs. Overall, great reflection!
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Hi Judy, I really enjoyed this post. I love hearing that your childhood scary movie that traumatized you a little ended up being somewhat guiding for you as an adult. You did a great job of connecting a funny fact to something deeper about you which is always so engaging to read! Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Judy, I really loved your post and resonated with a lot with the way you told your own story. I think that as a child we all have slightly irrational fears (which seem totally rational in our head) which then get debunked eventually in our life. I liked how relatable your post was and your funny anecdotes that led to specific moments of your life - Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Judy! As I’ve gotten older I’ve also reflected on many of my past experiences. Some of them seemed so silly when I initially thought about it, but most had underlying fears that I was unwilling to admit for years. Your blog post definitely took an unexpected twist (I thought it was going to be a movie review of Jurassic Park!), but I’m glad that you shared this with us. You’re so incredibly insightful and I always love reading what you have to say.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy, I thought your post was very engaging and well written. I found your discussion around the association between having those nightmares to having a fear of abandonment to be fascinating. I haven't seen the original Jurassic Park in a long time but it I can still envision a bunch of scenes from it and will consider rewatching it.
ReplyDeleteJudy, wow, what an amazing post. It's crazy how life makes us face internal feelings through day-to-day experiences like watching movies. It was very interesting to read your reflection and how you have understood that the fear of dinosaurs represented something deeper inside you. It's very brave to face childhood traumas like you did and find a learning behind it.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy, thank you for sharing! As someone with two younger siblings, I can definitely understand how you feel. I loved how you shared your growth and reflections with us. I am now inspired to watch Jurassic Park myself haha.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy, I loved reading your post. I love how you were able to tap into your deep emotions and relate it to a movie/impactful experience that helped you grow and come to a realization.
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