Seeking refuge in "Collateral Beauty"

April 07, 2020

Day nineteen of quarantine or commonly known among Sri Lankans "nirodayanaya." A term, alien to many people before the new decade. And yes, although we all forgot, this is a new decade. A decade with lots of choices for the 90s kids. Decisions which will have grave repercussions if we were to choose wrong🤯. No pressure, guys. Please bear with me; blogging is new to me.🤓

Just like everyone, I began my 14-day break with many plans. 20+ movies and a few TV series sound familiar😌. Hoping that it would last for over two weeks, I had few academic plans too.😇

What followed was less like a plan more like a prescription.🤪

Chips and treats SOS (only lasted two days).🤤
Five movies per day for 4days. (Before, after and during meals)😐
One season per day up to 2 complete series per week.🤪
Omit research and lectures.😳

So much for the grave repercussions, after one week had too much time but not enough work to do.🤷🏽‍♂️

I found an old DVD while tidying my room. I was thrilled to find an old movie that resonated a part of me so deep I watched it again💆🏽‍♂️. "Collateral Beauty" those who have already seen this, we are bound together with a primordial force. (Seekers of collateral beauty🔍). If you haven't, I want you to take a moment and think what this could be about🤔. What is collateral beauty? Is this about a beautiful collateral circulation in our body? Only collaterals I knew was from anatomy books. But come on! How they could make a movie about that.🤷🏽‍♂️

Later followed 2 hours of emotional roller coaster, which is beyond my ability to express through writing.😳🥺😌🥰🧘🏽‍♂️

I will do my best not to spoil anything, but you have been warned. The story is about four characters and how they evolve to understand, face, and cope with their predicament. Apart from excellent acting and several plot twists to keep you intrigued, it gives off a way of life, a form of seeing the silver lining that everyone says exists in challenging times like this😃. A good friend of mine once told me not to take movies seriously. They are made to make a profit, not to give life lessons😅😬. But I couldn't help but think about what I have watched.

Towards the end, it hit me like BOOM! COLLATERAL BEAUTY.🤯😱

Everything has a beautiful aspect, not only everything; everyone has a beautiful side. No matter how horrible it would have been, there are tiny beautiful areas we can seek shelter. It is an art of not holding onto the pain during dark times but noticing and cherishing beautiful memories and hopeful outcomes yet to come.😌

Let's apply this to "Coronial era". Corona pandemic🦠. Nobody imagined it would be this bad, but it turned out to be overwhelming even for the so-called developed countries. Many people are dying, the economy is collapsing, and people are confined to their homes with no guarantee of a happy ending.😞

But if you take the time you will notice that nature is blooming,⛰🏡 pollution rates are record-breaking low, families dine together, communicate with each other👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, couples working on their relationships(we will see results in nine months👼🏽), and people helping each other. Healthcare workers, armed forces, and other social workers are doing their best while politicians are in hiding. These are apparent facts you might have gathered from the internet. Seeing the silver lining⚡️ in this situation might not be difficult, thanks to my fellow bloggers.😄🤝

But asking everyone to see the beauty in every circumstance might be a tough thing to digest🤨. There might be scenarios that make you wonder where is the friking beauty that guy was talking about🤬. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the Beauty, and the pain is always proportionate. And I'm not asking you not to feel pain, anger, or sorrow. Quite the opposite, bottling those up would be harmful to your well-being. What I'm asking is, to cope with your predicament, find refuge in "collateral beauty."💆🏻‍♀️ After all, collateral beauty is in our genome. It is part of our survival instinct. A primordial superpower.🦸🏻‍♂️🦸🏻‍♀️

I like to end things upon my view of the future—"Post coronial era"😏, where the government allocates more funds to healthcare and education, Where labs and hospitals are more important than nuclear silo or machines of warfare. Where farmers are treated with respect, they deserve, and families find time for each other. And where task forces are made not only to bust terrorists but also to fight against viruses🦠. Most importantly, an era with religions dedicated not to govern us but to guide us✝️☪️🕉☸️. And let's hope for the new decade to be full of voters who remember politicians who did nothing and government workers who did everything and more.😏

Maybe this is me seeking refuge in collateral beauty.☺️

Thank you.✌🏽