As Wanderlust Yoga Festival is happening right now in Colorado and Wanderlust at Tahoe is coming up I decided to check out the movie of the same name.
Wanderlust Is so my life. Now most spiritually enlightened women would say that about the film Eat Pray Love. Nope not me.
Set inside a comedic love story of a couple trying to find their place in the world is a true account of hippie life and my life for that matter. I am in a transition to merge my two worlds into one that is right for me. One being the conventional society I was brought up in and the alternative community I have come to know.
This is what we see the main characters go through in this film. Linda played by Jennifer Aniston and George played by Paul Rudd, are a couple who move into an expensive studio apartment in a great neighborhood in NYC even though they can’t afford it.
Who hasn’t done that?
Only to have George loose his job because the company was seized by the FBI and Linda’s latest creative career choice fell through. Linda switched to being a documentary filmmaker after trying her hand at jewelry designing and illustrating children’s books.
Which basically sums up my career path.
They end up traveling to Atlanta Georgia to live with George’s brother. Well you can pretty much guess how that goes as who can live with family for too long after being on your own? So they stumble upon the Elysium Community where dreams are dispensed daily and you are encouraged to bring your own container. What is Elysium like?
It’s a place I know all too well . . .
Where communes are called intentional communities.
I’ve lived on one before, for two weeks.
Where clapping is too violent so they rub their fingers.
I’ve been to house concerts where the audience rubs their hands together like they are trying to make fire with invisible sticks, after each song.
Where women give birth unassisted and make soup out of their placentas.
There was a frozen placenta in my house for a month after my roommate gave birth in her room.
Where truth circles are called as a form of therapy to release issues while under the influence of ayahuasca.
I know of a community that does this regularly.
Where you have to sneak off property to eat meat because it’s not allowed in the house. I have done that for a cheese burrito because I lived in an apartment where being Vegan was a requirement.
Now this isn’t to say that these ways of living aren't wonderful or something you should do without. For the most part I agree with spiritual hippie ways of being. Yet at the same time I have seen the down falls as well. Where can we meet in the middle?
The conclusion of this film shows a brief glimpse into the worlds I am already starting to merge, that of conscious business. Spoiler alert. Not like there is anything big to reveal about this movie that I already haven’t. In the end George and Linda live away from Elysium yet they incorporate the elements they like into their lives. They create a publishing company that prints the stories of their friends. Giving a voice and a platform to the gems of the alternative community while integrating their ideals into the mainstream society.
My motto exactly!