Discovering the Collateral Beauty

 

I chanced upon this movie “Collateral Beauty” starring Will Smith and I came to realize how profound the message it wants to impart to the audience. In the said film, the three abstractions of life were depicted: Love, time, and death. Will Smith lost his 6 year old daughter in the movie and his colleagues were helping him to start over with his life after his loss which resulted into a clinical depression.

A beautiful coincidence amazed me when I came to watch the movie right after the death of one very special person in my life last year who incidentally gave me a copy of it 2 years ago. I just thought that our connection was never broken even after death for he was still sending me messages beyond the grave through this film and other things. Truly, things come at their designated time and place.  

This blog was not meant to give spoilers for those who haven’t watched the movie yet which was shown last 2016. It rather wants to express how all things are interconnected and that no one and nothing is ever an accident.

The film was described as a big, emotional, drama which is both imaginative and intriguing. But what is the real meaning of “Collateral Beauty”? Simply put, collateral beauty is the search for meaning in heartbreak. When we lose something or someone, we always look at the dark side of things, the lingering pain and hurt, the roller coaster ride of emotions as we grieve for their loss. It’s natural for us to feel literally broken from the inside after someone died but we often fail to recognize and discover the “beauty” behind our loss. We hold on to the sadness, we may feel that the world has ended. But there is a definite reason for everything that happens in our lives.

I’ve experienced losing important people in my life several times and I know how that emptiness feels. I've sunk into depression but I thank God He gave me the gift of words which is both therapeutic and healing. I write to heal myself and others. I believe masterpieces emerge after one has gone through some darkness.

The movie is like no other which makes it different because the author of the story has a powerful imagination. A film that will make you think.  A film which comes as a gift. Coincidentally again, my dearly departed very special friend indicated “Gift Movies” for the folder of the film in the USB he gave me.  

And this is one beautiful quote from the movie: “You’ve been given a gift, this profound connection to everything. Just look for it, and I promise you it’s there, the collateral beauty.”

Perhaps we must discover the collateral beauty in every tragedy we experience in our journey. As one dialogue in the movie goes, “…notice the collateral beauty…”

***Photo courtesy of Google Images