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August 17, 2022,
In a quest to find meaning in their lives, typically people find there are two pathways.
Inward or outward.
For most in our circle, we arrived at where we are by looking within.
If something did not work out, instead of blaming others, at some point, take responsibility for your major life mistakes, confusion, disillusion or collapse. What part did you have in that?
Typically a major one.
Once you answer those questions; that is where real change begins.
Others look inward, after they have looked outward, by joining organized religion or cults.
According to cbsnews.com, “Up to 10,000 cults still exist today in the United States, according to psychologist Steve Eichel, a recognized international cult expert and president of the International Cultic Studies Association.”
Some would say a number of FCI associates were once part of an international cult.
How did one of them feel, 20 years later, after leaving?
He wasted his youth.
On film, one of the most frightening but revealing films that speak to that inward or outward quest is Martha Marcy May Marlene.
The title alone lets you know you need to put your emotional seat belts on.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy.
The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains.
The movie review experts at rogerebert.com analyze, “Martha is her name. “Marcy May” is the name given to her by the leader of a cult group. “Marlene” is the name all the women in the group use to answer the telephone.”
Ring, ring. Don’t pick up.
Ultimately, what are most of us looking for in life?
Meaning.
Not just to the meaning of life, but most important, the meaning in our individual life.
Sometimes not easy to find but almost always very important.
At psychologytoday.com they enlighten, “A sense of purpose is generally thought of as the most important thing for an individual to guide their behaviors, make decisions and attain their goals. Research shows that individuals who have a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life tend to have better mental health, overall well-being, and cognitive functioning compared to those who lack a sense of purpose.”
Finding meaning in the traditional institutions is waning.
Family is filled with divorce.
Religion has lost its power.
Work. Before you get settled, you are either laid off or your job is transferred overseas.
Where can you go? Time to go outward.
They used to be called road trips that were temporary extensions of vacations into the wilderness to get away. What many people found, once they were out there, they wanted to get away for good.
Or run away.
Never come back.
Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical adventure drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Sean Penn.
It is an adaptation of the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name written by Jon Krakauer and tells the story of Christopher McCandless (“Alexander Supertramp“), a man who hiked across North America into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s.
The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless, Marcia Gay Harden as his mother, William Hurt as his father, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Brian Dierker, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, and Hal Holbrook.
Here is the storyline.
In April 1992, Christopher McCandless arrives in a remote area called Healy, just north of Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Noting his unpreparedness, his driver gives him gumboots.
McCandless sets up camp in an abandoned city bus that he calls “The Magic Bus”. He is content with the isolation, the beauty of nature, and the thrill of living off the land. He hunts with a .22 caliber rifle, reads books, and keeps a journal as he prepares his new life in the wild.
The master reviewers at rogerebert.com once again share some light, “This is a reflective, regretful, serious film about a young man swept away by his uncompromising choices.”
When we are searching for truth and meaning, out in the wilderness, because conventional life has completely failed us, it is often a trek that is uncompromising.
Where we end up is out there.
There are so many young women, on YouTube, who have made the decision to live out there.
Permanently.
Two women we admire who have taken the plunge are Van Wives.
https://www.youtube.com/c/Vanwives
Here is their message, “We’re moving to the woods alone!! After searching many months for a cabin in the woods we finally found an off grid rustic cabin to continue living tiny in the wilderness! We will always be a van life couple- van life will always be for us but in the meantime we’re building a beautiful home base by moving in the woods.”
They love content creating and living off the grid with their two dogs.
Given the struggles of urban and societal life, many have had enough and want no more of it.
How a person exits can vary.
In many ways, one of our associates has exited inward. We are busy with content creation but we realize, at some point, we need to engage with people, especially given our future plans which will include female grappling and women sports events.
What we left behind was organized religion and traditional social lifestyles that we found lacked real meaning.
Have we found our purpose and meaning?
Yes, we are doing it right now and can’t wait to wake up every day.
Of note, it took us years of shedding old belief systems that were not working to get here.
Years.
Typically it does not happen overnight but it is so very worth it.
We are glad the people who brought empty materialism and, winner or loser expressions, are permanently out of our lives. What we found, when people like that are left to their own devices, instead of using others to achieve their empty materialistic dreams, they often fail.
They are the real losers.
Especially spiritually, where they are very bitter and angry at the people they previously used, with symbolic whips, to fulfill their morally and spiritually bankrupt wishes.
We have found that materialism is not fulfilling at all and ultimately, when you are in that assisted living facility, those things are all gone anyway.
Life is about right now.
Life is about learning from your past mistakes without blaming others.
Life is about taking the time, really taking it, to find meaning in your life.
Once you combine those beliefs, in our experience, that is the starting place of finding true meaning in your life.
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OPENING PHOTO fciwomenswrestling2.com Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com fcielitecompetitor.com wrangler-Shutterstock-photo-credit
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-identify-a-cult-six-expert-tips/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Marcy_May_Marlene
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/martha-marcy-may-marlene-2011
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild_(film)
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/into-the-wild-2007
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/into-the-wild-2007
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
