I saw the movie The Vow this weekend and was blown away. It certainly wasn't what I thought it would be. I expected to spend two hours engrossed in Channing Tatum's killer body... but instead, I was confronted with ideas of life and of forgiveness. Thoughts of grief and of being able to just. let. go.

In the movie, the opportunity to go back and erase a period of time was given to the main character, Paige. Scratch that - it wasn't exactly an opportunity for her. But her story made me think about my life and what I would go back and "forget" if I could. The age-old adage forgive and forget is often easier said than done. The conscious parts of our mind may forgive a particular action but the subconscious undercurrents will never forget. Can never forget. It'll always be there. Unless, of course, you're thrown through the windshield of a vehicle or suffer some other tortuous head injury. Paige couldn't go back and remember a whole portion of her life that made her who she is in the present. What would I do if that were the case? How would I feel if I woke up tomorrow and the last thing I remembered was middle school? Before my family fell apart, before I learned so many lessons the hard way... but also before I met my husband. Would my life take the same path it has if I were given the chance to start over in my mind? Could I wipe away the pain that's built up there for hours and days and years? 

The depths of despair and the Everests of happiness that have been my life in the past ten years have made me who I am today. The mother I am, the wife I am, the daughter I am. But could I be better if I just let go? Another thing that's easier said than done. Could you? Can you reach back in your mind and forgive someone for the one thing they did wrong and love them for the many things they've done right? Can you let it go? Wouldn't the world be a better place if we could all just let go? 

In the movie, Leo has a theory that we are all particles, floating out in this space that we call Earth. When we crash together and experience a moment of impact, those are the seconds, the moments that define our lives. These are the seemingly infinite spaces of time that make us who we are. If you could pinpoint a particular crash, would you go back and wipe it away in hopes that you could finally forget the remnants of it? Would you omit the pain even if it might change who you are today? What about if deleting that painful moment also deletes many, many happy moments along with it? Would you do it then?

I wonder if this is something that can be accomplished without a physical brain injury. I wonder if it's possible to inhale forgiveness and exhale the pain, the hurt, and the regret. And with that exhalation, is it possible to find forgetfulness? Wouldn't it be great if we could all just breathe it out? Hmm. Interesting theory, eh?