Was Ferris a Yogi?

If you think this blog is all about being a serious, studious and meditative yogi 100% of the time, then you’ll be pretty surprised when I break out an embarassing bit of 80s pop culture to make my point.

“Life Moves Pretty Fast.  If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Matthew Broderick, as Ferris Bueller, in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Famous last words from the hit film that took teen world by storm back in 1986.  How unbelievably profound coming from a high school student!  Back then, it was just a phrase, but it was powerful enough to serve as the theme for a film that earned nearly $69 million at the box office.  Today, making my way through life at age 33, not 17, Ferris’ words ring loud and clear.

Ferris wakes up one beautiful spring morning during his junior year and declares, “How could I possibly be able to handle school on a day like this?,” and sets out on a day full of fun and excitement.  Sure he does some damage along the way, (his actions led to his best friend’s eventual breakdown in which he wrecks his father’s most prized possession, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, as well as his sister’s trouble with the law, and his mother’s failed real estate deal,  not to mention Mr. Rooney’s towed car, ruined suit and bloody nose!).  But the film makes an excellent point that nearly anyone can relate to, even fifteen years out of high school.  We only get one chance at life, and if we don’t slow down, take stock of our lives, and think about what we want and what path we are following, we may wind up with regrets, disappointment and a lot of wasted time.

This past year has been my Ferris year.   After working two different part-time jobs out of my home and on the road, managing my household, helping my husband with his start-up business, raising a toddler and a pre-schooler, coordinating child care by the hour on work days and basically running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I pulled a Ferris, and stopped.  I looked around.  I realized I was missing life.  As scary as it was, I knew I had to make some changes.  It was not easy, as it meant giving up things I had worked hard to achieve, disappointing people who depended on me (the all-too-difficult act of saying “no”), and finding the courage to manage on my own without a second income.  But once I took that step back, looked at my life and realized how fast it was passing me by, there was no turning back – change was inevitable.

It’s been a roller coaster.   Time to focus on family, rather than squeeze it in, has been wonderful, and in fact, I’m still getting used to it.  The guilt over stepping away from work has crept in more often than I’d like, but the mental space suddenly cleared is leading me down a path to enlightenment.

(Sorry, I couldn’t keep the yoga mumbo jumbo to myself for too much longer.)

Patanjali teaches us in Verses 1.2 – 1.4 that yoga is the intentional calming of the storms raging within us.  When the mind is quiet, we will reside in our true nature.   Without yoga, our minds become consumed by all of the things swirling about, and we are unable to find our true selves.

Even though there were no scenes in which Ferris, Cameron and Sloane attended a hip, Chicago yoga studio (although that would made for an excellent bit of comedy), the premise of the movie is dead on with these first few verses.  Ferris walked away from his everyday routine, just for a day, and experienced his true nature in all the ways that made him happy.  Baseball games, museums, a beautiful sports car, a fancy French restaurant, sneaking into someone’s swimming pool, even simply playing at home on his keyboard for laughs as he created a melody of phony illness noises – all of these things were experiences that happened when Ferris cleared his slate of responsibility, routine and obligation.

Of course it’s not that easy.  We all need to go to school or work, even though there are days when we just want to pull the covers over our heads.  But now that we are done with high school, we have our lives to control in our own way.  I challenge everyone of you to stop, find a quiet space where you can be alone, and evaluate how you spend your life.  What led you to where you are today?  Are you truly happy on this path?  Or is it possible, that if you could step off this path, another path may pop up just a short distance away from where you stand today?

It’s not easy to do this, especially today when we normally shape our lives around family.  But if you listen to Ferris Bueller’s famous words from that iconic 80s movie, can you honestly say that you aren’t missing out on life, not even a little?  If so, many kudos to you – you’ve got it all figured out!  If you can’t, why not revisit these thoughts every so often, and see if there isn’t some way to dig deeper to find out the reasons why you are feeling this way.

I started this blog as a way to express myself and get back in touch with my own personal interests.  I wanted to share what I know, but also learn what you know, and create a forum for moms to express themselves honestly about their own needs.  The PranaMama has led me to revisit an old passion, writing, and has sparked something inside of me, something never before seen in my professional life.  I’ve bounced around, tried new things, worked at different companies, and even tried to start my own business.  But ever since the day I gave up writing as a career choice and college major, I had buried it deep within myself, in the interest of following my path.

As it turns out, I was on the wrong path all along.  Clearing my life of things that were not working for me, I allowed the space and time for something new to come in.  And this week, I was offered my first regular, paid, writing gig, reporting local news for a regional newspaper.   I feel eternally grateful to have found this new path.  One never can say for certain whether this is the last path they’ll walk down, but for now, the path is lined with lush green grass and aromatic, lovely flowers.  I’m happy to follow it as long as the flowers bloom.

And to anyone who stands in the way, or criticizes my path – I say, “Don’t mess with the bull, young man. You’ll get the horns.”

(Ah, this trip down memory lane to the mid-eighties video store is so fun!  Anyone want to guess who said it, and in what film?)

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