Hi Reader!
Have you ever seen the movie Joe vs. the Volcano with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? It’s one of Jay’s and my favorite films of all time! One year, we even saw it live on stage in San Diego on our anniversary. One of the movie’s underlying messages has resonated with me this week.
As Wikipedia describes, Joe vs. the Volcano follows Joe Banks (Hanks), who, after being told he is dying of a rare disease, accepts a financial offer to travel to a South Pacific island and throw himself into a volcano on behalf of the superstitious natives. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with Patricia (Ryan), the woman tasked with taking him there.
The more profound message is about hypochondriac Joe’s growth, self-actualization, and waking up to living life with courage and warmth.
In the movie, Joe experiences a series of miracles: he survives his terminal illness, gets rescued after being stranded at sea, and falls in love with Patricia. Together, they face the final act of hurling themselves into a volcano to save a native tribe. Miraculously, the volcano spews them out, saving them from death, and then a bunch of floating luggage shows up to offer them something to hang on. Joe looks around and notes:
“But…still…” he says, “we’re on a raft… in the middle of the ocean…”
Without losing any of her optimism, Patricia looks lovingly at Joe and responds, “It’s always going to be something with you, isn’t it, Joe?”
And that’s the thing. In life, there will always be something. We can close our eyes to the miracles around us by focusing on what’s wrong.
As I mentioned last week, muddling through is a path that allows us to strive after what we want but also calls us to rest back and appreciate what we have—finding the balance between effort and grace. This week, I want to explore the flavor of that muddling through. Are we muddling through in a sea of fear, or are we muddling through while resting in love?
I’m writing this weekly email as my last task before taking off north in our Sprinter van. Originally, we were going to leave on June 23—the day before our 40th anniversary—but just a week before, a family member ended up in the hospital for eight days, so we postponed our trip.
When one of us gets sick, it takes a village to keep things moving smoothly. That’s certainly been the case for us. Many friends and relatives have helped out, keeping us on our toes, running errands, caring for us, cleaning, providing food, and making sure someone is at the hospital at all times.
It’s especially tricky because the treatment plan is not definitive. As we have been navigating the medical mystery while keeping life flowing together as a family, it has been confusing when and whether to go. I hated to leave a loved one when the prognosis was confusing. What if we were needed?
We are muddling through. Amid all this chaos and confusion, it is easy to fall into fear—and I have, sometimes—but not for long. It is far more fulfilling to show up to whatever is happening—to be present—than to worry about the future.
Learning this has been the greatest gift of my life. Because it’s always going to be something! These last weeks have been tremendously challenging, but in the past, all kinds of random things have worried me: fights with a friend or family member, a sticky work situation, gaining five pounds, a bad haircut…
It’s up to me to remember to touch in with vitality anyway. I’ve come to appreciate it doesn’t take much to remember that pulse of naked being. Everything doesn’t have to go my way. Nor does everyone around me need to be happy and healthy (though, of course, that helps!). It just takes a willingness to be completely present—to slow down and feel my body in this moment—the felt sense of being—to tap into the underlying Goodness of life itself.
This week, while muddling through this medical nightmare, I was interviewed on the Spiritual Forum podcast by Rev. Carol Saunders. We talked about what it takes to meet the moment and how, when you do, you find an intimacy with the Divine. We discussed the importance of checking in with yourself, even briefly. Feel into the sensual moment, allow the air to thicken and stillness to pervade. You only need to dip in periodically for a few seconds to remember the inherent Goodness of life itself. (I’ll share a link to it soon!)
We’re about to head north, planning to meet our family member in a few days to seek more advanced treatment. Until then, I’m choosing to rest in love, recognizing that it will always be something—but there’s always something beautiful to notice.
Smiles,
https://marijkemccandless.com
PS If you have a copy of my book, Naked in the Now, please leave a review. If you haven’t dared to dive in yet, give it a go! You can order it here:
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