a pigeon sat on a branch reflecting on existence

I don't know.

I feel like we forget what it means to be human. We forget that the one thing we all have in common is being human. Because I think if we remembered what it means to be human, if we actively thought about it or were reminded of it; if we remembered that the woman who bumped into us on the street and kept walking without stopping for a second to apologize, or the man who seemed to act as though he were deaf while his daughter kept screaming in the subway are human like us, we'd be living in a different world.

I think, if we were to remember more easily (or perhaps were reminded more frequently) that we are all human; that we are scared of the same things, get excited about the same things, motivated by the same things, and worried about the same things, we'd have more patience, more tolerance, more softness, more kindness, and more respect towards each other.

Maybe it's the stuff we are exposed to every day that makes us focus on our differences rather than our similarities. Fights over nuclear weapons, over land, religion, power, popularity. We are constantly exposed to stories of conflicting interests and are manipulated into believing that someone's success or happiness means there's less of each left for someone else, as if success and happiness were finite resources. As a result, we end up living in "every man for himself" societies, with clear divides between "I"s and "other"s.

That is precisly why I started crying as I sat alone in the back row of a movie theater on Saturday, as I watched one of the best films I have seen in years.

Roy Andersson's "A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence" is a breath of fresh air. It is like the sudden, tropical downpour of rain that comes to wash away the dense, sticky air in the summertime. Like watching videotapes from your childhood and finding yourself smiling first because you realize how pure, how innocent you once were; how everyone is like that during the same stage of their lives, and then finding yourself in tears because you realize how life has a tendency to change people as they grow older. It's like listening to John Lennon sing "Imagine" on the subway on the way to work one day, and suddenly, out of nowhere, having the realization of what he really meant. Like really and truly understanding him, and wondering how you'd been listening to it all this time without actually having a clue. It's like having an imaginary lightbulb turn on above your head. A sudden enlightenment.

It's about nothing and no one in particular, but about everything and everyone at the same time. It's about how we are unable to live in the moment, about how we sacrifice what could have been a beautiful Tuesday because we are just counting the days until Friday; how we take things and people for granted because they are so readily available, and how we usually appreciate the value of those things and people when they are no longer ours. It's about how we say things without really thinking about the meaning of the words we use, and how we talk to each other without really listening.

Most important of all, though, is that it's about the things that we have in common. It's about the values, habits, and practices that we share solely due to the fact that we are all human. It speaks to all of us, regardless of our sex, gender, race, or ethnicity. It's able to make an entire room full of people from all types of backgrounds laugh, remain silent, and tear up at the same time.

It's proof that despite all attempts to claim otherwise, we have more similarities than differences. And most importantly, it leaves you with a sense of unity, and contrary to what we may have been led to believe, a feeling that not only is happiness not a finite resource, but one that actually grows and multiplies the more its shared.

It's like the first glimpse of sunlight leaking through the clouds after a storm. Something worth taking a picture of and sharing with as many others as possible. Maybe not physically, but certainly mentally. So please do yourselves a favor and make time to watch this movie.

I promise, you'll be glad you did.