The Bigger Lewbowski

image via Amazon.com

"...it's a complicated case...Lotta ins...Lotta outs. And a lotta strands to keep in my head, man." 

~The Dude

I have been writing this post in my head for the last 2 months. The goal was to have it finished by the time I had my annual "Big Lewbowski Outdoor Movie Party", in early August. Alas, it didn't happen. The struggle was in trying to articulate the profound affinity and connection ( for example, it is a major bonding force between my brothers and I) I feel for this movie, and how it applies to my own human experience. Being quite fond of symbolism of the seemingly everyday and domestic, my eyes, heart, and brain all worked  to fuse the pieces together to no avail. 

Until last night, that is. I found myself on a random and magical evening, best summed up by this morning's Facebook status update on my page:
"Sometimes, if you're lucky, you have a randomly magical night with two of your favorite friends, 3 delicious strawberry vodka lemonades (which is a lot for this delicate flower who doesn't drink much) and they take you to a Secret Society where a lovely girl plays a beautiful guitar and a mean fiddle, twin lovelies play a happy banjo and a tambourine with melodic voices, a cellist connects you to your Chezch ancestry and inspires you to pinky swear  you'll go to Prague with your beautiful dreaded friend on a red velvet couch in the ladies' loo, and that a long talked about man named John, will win you over with his funny stories, soulful songs, and a sense of wonder at how a night like that could make my belly ache with laughter and reaffirm my belief in the awesomness of this thing called life. Thank you. now i must go have some breakfast...." ♥ 

Clarity descended on me as I watched these talented musicians bare their souls through the notes of the songs in the height of my drunken state, last night. The insight came to me because I was wide open, vulnerable and completely, totally 100% being myself. I had no expectations or attachments to where I was in that moment. I just showed up to that place and time.  I was simply being and ensconced in the present moment. 

"How come I don't feel this way more often?",  I contemplated,  sometime in the middle of a cello's seductive soul call. How to attain this kind  of elevated sense of clarity without vodka? Ahhhh... yes...openness of heart, in the present is the key. As so aptly stated in another of my favorite movies,  "I Heart Huckabees",  it is the place between "pure being and human drama" where this comes in to play. 

This  sudden openness in myself made it easier for me to connect to the energy of the people I was watching perform- as if there was a direct line from my heart to theirs. Now true, I am an intuitive and these abilities are already more pronounced in myself more than most.  But this was a new awareness of my situation like I have yet known.

"New shit has come to light, man." ~The Dude

image via bothteamsplayedhard.net

An hour or so before I began my adventure last night, I had posted the above quote on FB, relating  acutely to that statement, but not really sure why. I was inspired to share, more as a declaration to myself when The Dude's page was suggested via FB to "like". Naturally, I abide. But why? Why does this story and these characters hold such value...I thought about it some more. I researched other viewpoints that included spirituality and the lessons of TBL (the Coen Brothers MUST have had some idea and deliberate intention in the writing of the film in connection with a spiritual outlook...). The need to understand is for me, and the sharing of it here in this space, is my way of working it out for myself. Surely there are other's who have also pondered in a similar fashion. Dudeism, I discovered is a real religion with over 70,000 followers. Far out, Man. Far out. 

But I digress...there is a point to all of this....stay with me....no, I don't mind if you do a "j"...

New shit has indeed come to light. With my own very personal Amazing Revelation I mentioned in the post previous, and this month's astrological themes extraordinarily 

applicable to my life and what I am currently undergoing. The  highlighted themes center on  the square of Uranus (the planet of surprise) to Pluto (the "not a planet" of transformation) that happened yesterday, Sept. 18. Just today, on a whim, I brought home a copy of the sometimes, cheesy new age-y publication, "New Connections", and opened up to the astrology section to find this September's cosmic summary by Emily Trinkaus:
"Courage, Creativity, & Power
The rising tides of change reach another peak in September, signifying a choice point that tests your courage and commitment. The Uranus- Pluto square, exact for the second time on Sept. 18, challenges you to clarify and clear inner blocks that hold you back from shining your light and sharing your gifts.
While Pluto in Capricorn signals the death and rebirth of social  structures, Uranus in Aries catalyzes the creativity and power inherent in each individual, inviting everyone to participate in the transformation in your own unique way.
On Oct. 5, Saturn [the Task Master planet] will shift from Libra to Scorpio, turning attention to the deep work of intimacy, emotional healing, and letting go. If you take responsibility for uncovering what you've repressed, hidden or otherwise banished to the subconscious, you're rewarded with the Scorpio gifts of regeneration, vitality and authentic connections."

Fucking A. That is so spot on to what I am handling in my personal life (and anyone privy to the intimate details of the private happenings of me, will see the validation here). It gives me hope that the light on the other side of the tunnel is much closer than I thought. It also validates why now, after all of these years, that I am just now seeing the blocks that have prevented me from fully embracing my whole self and sharing it more authentically.

"It is man's own responsibility to solve his problems and to make sense in his own time and place." 

~David Thorsteinsson, "Unspoken Messages: Notes on Lewbowskian Theory"

http://dudespaper.com/dude-university/unspoken-messages-notes-on-lebowskian-theory/

image via dudeism.com

All of these points seem to line up to show me, that the time is NOW. The proverbial rug has been pulled out from underneath me (as I predicted it would 2 months ago), and in the present I am left to pull all of the threads together to weave a new rug that really ties the room together. Are you listening, to The Dudette's story?

The Dude just "took 'er easy" and actively enjoyed his life. He lived in the now. He was open to experience. He got dealt some uncool stuff, and through it all he worked to understand it, and in the end became more enlightened to the condition he was in. WOW. It took me writing all of the above to get to that. Sometimes, ya just gotta write shit out.

"Ah.. fuck it. Let's go bowling."

~Walter Sobchak

image via cinemonkey.wordpress.com