Outside the Box?

Courage ... how much courage do you need in order to push your boundaries, to decide to do something that, you probably know, is not your "typical" favorite activity? It is not easy to choose what is not your "typical" choice.

For example, if I have to choose between going out for an Indian buffet or going out to see an horror movie., my choice is to fill my stomach with ethnic food of course, and not filling my wondering mind with more terrifying things. Who wants to have a nightmare tonight?

To my surprise, recently, I was testing myself to push my boundaries.

My husband wanted to see a Japanese monster movie, "Gojira"(Godzilla) at the Japanese Cultural Center. Gojira didnt' really capture my immediate attention. Gojira puzzled me. I kept thinking, "why does he like to see that kind of movie?" Gojira would never be my typical top choice of movie to watch.

I kept asking myself, "how much courage do I need to watch a monster movie with my husband, after a long day at work?" Well, I didn't really know. I would give myself a chance to watch Gojira. If worse came to worse, I could just sleep at the theater.

We arrvied at the Japanese Cultural Center in the early evening. I told my husband that I would give this a try. I would like to earn the feeling of, "doing something outside the box."

78 minutes passed by. The audience's laughter filled the theater. The 1950's special effects of the movie reminded me of the first time my dad took me to see, "King Kong," in the theater in Bangkok when I was around 10 years old. Gojira worked as a symbol of the impact of the atomic bomb. The young scientist in the movie who invented the oxygen destroyer capsule really impressed me with his idealism to save the world. The aftermath scenes after Gojira destroyed Tokyo was like a current scene in Iraq after America attacked.

All of the above imaginative visuals were not my typical outlet to appreciate this diverse world. However, I left the theater with a new found appreciation of thousands of exotic things.

Gojira and my courage worked so well tonight.

I was able to remove a monster out of my typical mind and concluded that in order to be or to feel atypical, you need to be able to "do things outside the box."

Good night, Gojira

TAN