The Shawshank Redemption

I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope… I was having a bad day: frustrated, thrown off balance, and stressed out. So I decided to watch my favorite film with my mom, as I wanted to show it to her anyway. And I think Shawshank will forever be one of my favorite movies. It has an amazing ability to turn a bad day into a good one. Only on the second viewing have I noticed the many details that I relate to. For example, I recently had a beautiful talk with my mom about freedom, which went something like this: - I get jealous of birds; I want to be as free as them one day. Be in control, go wherever I want to. - But Patrick, you are free. As we talked longer about it, I realized how trapped I allow myself to become in society's rules, norms, and expectations. We all get so lost in them that we think we're in these cages that don't really exist. In fact, we're all free. Free to do whatever we want, whenever we want. *Sometimes it makes me sad, though... Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. *Their feathers are just too bright. So this quote and Brooks releasing his crow reminded me of that conversation. Also, my mom worked in Italy when she was younger, so the Italian song Andy played to the whole prison was a nice touch. I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I may be spilling my beans to random people on the internet, but those are my honest thoughts...