Lifestyle

Another Earth Another You

World EyeI watched a film called Another Earth last week. The premise of the film is that we (earth 1) discover another earth (earth 2) where there is another you living an identical life to you. When earth 1 becomes aware of earth 2 the lives stop being in sync and they then take dramatic turns and go off in differing directions. The film explores the idea that there could be a better you, a you who didn’t make the mistakes you have made up there on earth two. It’s a bit slow but pretty gripping.

The main question posed is: If you met yourself what would you say to yourself?

My friend Sarah who saw the film with me said that she would love to meet herself as it would be like having a perfect best friend because they would know everything about her, what she thinks about things and why, and they would be compassionate and understanding about her short comings. I was quite surprised. I told Sarah that I thought I wouldn’t like me if I met me. I told her that I thought I’d find myself to be rather obnoxious and self indulgent.

It’s an interesting question which reveals quite a lot about how you see yourself. When I asked my friend Brendan what he would say to himself if he met himself he said he’d say: “Alright.” After a bit more thought he then went on to say that he’d probably be really competitive with himself. He’d want to be the better him. He’d want to compete against himself in lots of different things. It then made me quite want to box my other self. And have a rap battle (that would perhaps be the most pathetic rap performance of all time). It made me quite want to watch Ali fight Ali or Tyson fight Tyson. I can’t remember if Brendan said whether he’d like himself. It’s an interesting thought, whether you’d like yourself if you met yourself. I was speaking to another friend about this who said she’d think she was really flakey, untrustworthy and sly. I think my friend was just imagining being able to see the thoughts in her head without seeing what she actually is, which is funny, intelligent, interesting and fun. Perhaps there might be sides to ourselves that we don’t give ourselves credit for and we might find ourselves to be more (or less?!) patient, funny, fun and interesting that we give ourselves credit for. What do you think are the aspects of yourself that are positive that you could be over-looking or not allowing yourself to appreciate? What would you say to yourself if you met yourself? And how would that reveal to you the relationship you have with yourself in your life now? Would you be compassionate, open, loving? Or would you want to box yourself or try to change yourself?

Harry