Is all of LOST about letting go and moving on?
I'm reflecting about The End of LOST.
Doc Jensen's first reactions and full writeup make me wonder if all of LOST is about reflection, the central concerns of life, and redemption.
The characters are LOST souls, not quite sure about their identities and uncertain about where they're going.
Through the LOST journey they learn not only who they are but also how to let go, which is the key to moving on.
These are the themes of my favorite Doc Jensen columns, for "we are feedback loops; we are the stories that we tell ourselves"...
"Reflection creates identity."
"When I started watching Lost, I found myself more intrigued by the mysteries than the characters. Over time, though, I have become more moved by the themes and the redemption struggles. In the third season, my engagement with Lost changed completely. I’ve previously shared how my wife’s cancer affected the way I processed the show and expressed myself about the show.
I began to see Lost not as a mystery to be solved, but an allegory for living in a state of profound, unsettling ambiguity that dealt with the central concerns of life. Why are we here? Why do we suffer? Is there hope? Do we accept our fate or fight it? What happens to us when we die? Will we see our loved ones again after death?
I appreciated that Lost ruminated on these questions."
"Jacob seemed to think that the broken people and damaged souls who came to the Island would embrace the opportunity of a fresh start and naturally blossom into the super-Buddha he was looking for. And why not? As Jacob told Richard, the Island is a place where “the past doesn’t matter.” But what he realized is that people have a really hard time letting go of the past. I might also argue that people shouldn’t let go of the past; at the very least, we can’t let it rule us, but we do need it to learn from it."
"Mother, Jacob, and Man-in-Black were contemporaries with Guatama (also Siddhartha) Buddha, who lived from 580-480 BC. The core ideas of Buddhism include the idea of letting go of the things of this world that keep us from recognizing and growing our spiritual nature and reincarnation and evolution of consciousness through a myriad of lifetimes."
Ultimately, we should reflect, but we shouldn't overthink it. LOST, after all, was created by the man with the mystery box.
P.S. -- In an odd synchronicity, congrats to Bret Michaels for winning Celebrity Apprentice. That just happened to happen simultaneously with the ending of LOST. Life goes on, so enjoy this one-minute re-enactment of LOST using cats.
Still LOST? Let go. Move on. Be here now.
