June 23rd, 2010

One of the most obvious themes in the “LOST” series was the battle between the good guys and the bad guys. The survivors we first met were the good guys (and girls!), though within the group, questions soon arose about who was who. As the series unfolded, we learned that the island’s inhabitants, “The Others,” were the real threats to the survivors, and conflicts grew between the two groups.

For me, the morality play became clearest with the story of the two brothers, the good guy, Jacob (dressed in white) who was literally thrown into the fire of destruction, and the apparent triumph of his counterpart, the evil Man in Black.

I wrote in my book, The Five Ways We Grieve, that when people experience significant loss, like the loss of a loved one, one of the effects is that people often change their values and priorities. The closer we get to realizing our mortality, the more we think about what’s really important in life – and we tend to make more conscious, more purposeful decisions about how to live our lives.

I think that when Jacob died, and Jack assumed the mantle as the island’s next protector, he made a conscious choice to save the island — even though he knew it would cost him his life. He redefined his purpose in life as he had known it and adopted this as his mission.

Think about your values and priorities. Have they been influenced by adverse events in your life? Has losing a loved one, and becoming more aware of your own mortality, changed your mission in life?

I welcome your thoughts and stories.

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June 4th, 2010

Among the many questions raised during the series was whether the survivors really were alive or not. When the series began, we were led to believe that this small band of diverse characters were survivors of the horrific crash. As I wrote last week, traumatic events tend to challenge our sense of invulnerability. Despite the fact that we all will die, the majority of humans hold out hope of living forever, being immortal. This belief is only challenged when we lose someone or something we hold dear.

Jack, a surgeon who confronts life and death every day, emerges as the natural leader in the group. He quickly observes that if search and rescue missions haven’t located them yet, they had better focus on surviving in their temporary “home.” He rallies his band to choose life. John, a passenger who alighted the plane in a wheelchair, inexplicably finds himself walking freely on the island. How can this be?

I thought these two men, Jack young, John older, represented two alternate views of reality, opposites in how they perceived their fate. In the recaps during the last episode, we were reminded that John had termed Jack the ‘man of science,’ and himself, the ‘man of faith.’ Trust in what you see vs. trust in what you don’t see. Life vs. death.

This theme runs through the entire six years – were they really alive in this strange tropical space? The world we live in now would not pair polar bears with a tropical island in the southern hemisphere. And, black smoky clouds that fly through the air?

As I watched the story of the survivors unfold, the line between being alive and being dead grew increasingly blurry – until the final episode, when, at least for me, their deaths became unquestionably clear.

Comments?

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