Movie Monday: LEAVE NO TRACE

One of my favorite movies lately we saw at home: LEAVE NO TRACE, based on the book MY ABANDONMENT by Peter Rock.

I loved the movie so much that I ordered the book. There are quite a lot of differences between the two! But I found something in each that changed me, and which I am still pondering.

The movie opens with a father of a teenage daughter living by choice in an Oregon park. Dad is a vet who appears to suffer from PTSD. And his choice to live away from people would be fine -- if not for the daughter, who, after 4 years in the park, is hungry for other relationships. I won't say what all happens in the movie, because I really hope you'll go see it for yourself. And I will just say one other thing about the ending: it slayed me. Absolutely, completely slayed me. I have thought about it a hundred times since I saw the movie. It has to do with acceptance -- letting people be who they are and loving them just that way. Really beautiful and touching.

The book also features a father and a teenage daughter living in an Oregon park. It is never said that Dad is a vet suffering from PTSD. And the ending is maybe about acceptance, but it's more about abandonment. Here are two quotes I adore:

"Every problem I have comes from believing something to be true that is not true."

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"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. He will pass an invisible boundary. Don't forget this. Don't forget that thinking can get in the way. Forget the forgetting. We seek to forget ourselves, to be surprised and to do something without knowing how or why. The way of life is wonderful. It is by abandonment."

Which reminds me of "The Muse" by the Wood Brothers. "When thinking's the last thing that you ought to do..." Enjoy!