I caught the film Ruby Sparks on the airplane recently. A light comedy it was not. Instead, a movie about a young novelist named Calvin who brings his protagonist to life turns eerie. In my perspective it also brought to light the deep (often unconscious) issues we all grapple with.

What seems like a dream scenario, creating your own perfect mate (or life) actually doesn’t provide the type of satisfaction we’d think. As we learn through Calvin’s character, a truly flawless situation will highlight your flaws. For example, we learn through his relationship with this “perfect” partner that he needs to control and be constantly validated, and we learn for the first time that under the veil of shyness, Calvin is incredibly narcissistic.

While perfect situations like these don’t exist in real life, we can learn a lot from this movie. The monsters we’re most afraid of aren’t hiding in our closets. They’re the hidden aspects of ourselves we’re afraid to acknowledge and confront. Maybe your monster isn’t narcissism, but anxiety, depression or mania. Maybe you’re fearful of being judged or rejected. Maybe you hide behind a mask to keep what you’re scared of at a distance, but in doing so you’re also keeping away your life. If so, these posts will help you to not only understand your fears and anxiety better, it may also help you get through it.

{Flickr photo by Mari Z.}

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