"Climb every mountain, til you find your dream.
A dream that will need, all the love you can give,
every day of you life, for as long as you live."
- Sound of Music
The hour and a half long conversation almost ended with, "I think you should watch The Sound of Music. Except I laughed and admitted that it's my favorite movie. Ok, it beats Titanic on the list of my favorite movies, people; I'm serious. I would watch it over and over as a kid and even as a teenager, I'd watch it so much so that one year for Christmas, Santa brought me the special edition DVD set. I was in the musical in high school and I'm pretty sure that without trying really hard, I could sing every song by memory. It's my, hands-down, favorite musical and movie of all times.
So, why is it my favorite? Many might right away suggest it's because of the nuns. Well, only in part. I love the Mother Superior character, because I would need someone like that in my life. I am essentially Maria: sneaking out to go visit my favorite nature places (THE RIVER!), being late for everything, except for every meal, making people laugh and of course, singing. I am constantly singing, or at least humming to myself. And while, I would probably drive all the other sisters crazy, Mother Superior would come to my side and love me for who I am. But the nuns aren't the only reason.
The movie takes place during Nazi invaded Germany. While some may say it's horrible, WW2 is my favorite piece of history. I am fascinated by the psychological studies that surround it like why did Hitler captivate so many people by his speeches, or how could one possibly think that the Jewish people were the root of all evil, and whoever thought that any type of torture was humane. But I also love the stories of heroism and survival. I feel like I know some of the people who I've "met" in stories, so well. Especially, the von Trapp family.
Of course, another reason why this movie is my favorite is because Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer are in it. Julie Andrews quickly became the actress I wanted to live up to as a kid. Of course, that may never happen now, but when I was young, I wanted to grow up and be just like her. Christopher Plummer was simply the most adorable male actor in the movie and I can't help but melt when he sings Edelweiss for the first time.
The reason I love this movie the most however, is probably why my own personal "Mother Superior" told me to watch it again. While it circulates around the war, and the convent and family, what it really is about is finding and then chasing your "dream" or rather, "God's will." If you take away the convent and marriage, it becomes a story of coming of age for Maria and finding out really what God wants from her. Both the convent and marriage were good things for Maria, but where would she have been able to best be herself and be an instrument of God? That's what she needed to find out. She needed to take a break from one, to find the other, the "better for her." She needed to climb another mountain. She needed to take a risk, and fall in love with another person, not just God. And the truth is, she got the best of both worlds: she fell in love with Captain von Trapp and the God within him.
At the end of our conversation, I could almost picture Sister Cathy singing "Climb Every Mountain" to me as she encouraged me to take a risk. From one real person to another real person she told me to take a risk and I know exactly what that risk is. It's the same exact risk Maria took when she left the Abbey the second time. This is my turn to climb every mountain, until I find that dream. And maybe the dream is what I've always thought it was, maybe it's something completely different. It's a journey, a discovery, a time to climb the hills that are filled with music!
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