Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Legend of Bagger Vance

One of the most interesting movies I've seen in a while. The story revolves around a man who had an amazing golf career before going off to war. Due to the horrors of the war and what happened to the men he was leading, he lost his "swing", both literally and figuratively. This is really a story about redemption. He is given a chance to turn his life back around and regain his "swing", through the help of an adolescent boy and a mysterious man named Bagger Vance. Bagger seems to be an unintelligent vagabond whose self-proclaimed job is to impart seemingly useless tidbits of wisdom. Those bits of wisdom help the man to realize the importance of letting go and finding oneself.
One of the best quotes in my mind was this: "Look at his practice swing, almost like he's searchin for something... Then he finds it... Watch how he settle hisself right into the middle of it, feel that focus... He got a lot of shots he could choose from... Duffs and tops and skulls, there's only ONE shot that's in perfect harmony with the field... One shot that's his, authentic shot, and that shot is gonna choose him... There's a perfect shot out there tryin' to find each and every one of us... All we got to do is get ourselves out of its way, to let it choose us... Can't see that flag as some dragon you got to slay... You got to look with soft eyes... See the place where the tides and the seasons and the turnin' of the Earth, all come together... where everything that is, becomes one... You got to seek that place with your soul Junuh... Seek it with your hands don't think about it... Feel it... Your hands is wiser than your head ever gonna be."
I hope that we can all get out of the way of the perfect shot there is for us and let it take our lives where they will be the most amazing.