Patagonia, Chile “Each of us in our own way has got to do something. Save your soul, ya know. Whatever that is.” 180 Degrees South is a reflection towards one’s own soul…whatever that is. The story of a man, the past’s grasp on his “whatever that is”, and the present’s grasp on the world. It shows the world as the world should be, where the past and present collect in harmony. And where the future threatens to erase what is left.  I began to realize, while watching this doc, that we are never sure if the future is all we look to. Our past and our present and the universe that surrounds us, that is what is for sure. We understand them with depth, with almost pure clarity, we can say with certainty what the past and what the present are. But what of the future? It’s unwritten time frame is so uncertain that as much as we care to uncover it, we never will. And why, then, are we so invested it understanding and controlling it? Why not better understand what is so impacting us now? What we have is small. I’ve begun to realize that. As much as I want to learn to run track as I always thought I should, or dance, or take more photographs in those few years that I dropped my training, I cannot. I cannot go back to the past. The past writes me, and I have to learn it in order to better understand how to improve my present, which will soon turn into the past itself, a past that I agree with far more. And as much as I want to save the world, I cannot. I am too small, and so is my past. Time is what is important. Embracing it, taking it slowly, using it for its full worth. We take so much advantage of time, we have labeled it and turned it into this negative entity. And all for what? So that we can push through it as fast as we possibly can? That is not what we are here to do. We do not live to rush as fast as possible towards death. We live to live. And living is in the now. It is in what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, and experience now. It is not 30 minutes from now. It is not 5 hours. Or a year or 5 years. It is how we take on the now so that in those time frames, when we reach that 5 years away, we can reflect and accept and smile at what we have done. Staying blind to the past and to the present, that is staying blind to what you are and all that you hold. 

Patagonia, Chile

“Each of us in our own way has got to do something. Save your soul, ya know. Whatever that is.”

180 Degrees South is a reflection towards one’s own soul…whatever that is. The story of a man, the past’s grasp on his “whatever that is”, and the present’s grasp on the world. It shows the world as the world should be, where the past and present collect in harmony. And where the future threatens to erase what is left. 

I began to realize, while watching this doc, that we are never sure if the future is all we look to. Our past and our present and the universe that surrounds us, that is what is for sure. We understand them with depth, with almost pure clarity, we can say with certainty what the past and what the present are. But what of the future? It’s unwritten time frame is so uncertain that as much as we care to uncover it, we never will. And why, then, are we so invested it understanding and controlling it? Why not better understand what is so impacting us now? What we have is small. I’ve begun to realize that. As much as I want to learn to run track as I always thought I should, or dance, or take more photographs in those few years that I dropped my training, I cannot. I cannot go back to the past. The past writes me, and I have to learn it in order to better understand how to improve my present, which will soon turn into the past itself, a past that I agree with far more. And as much as I want to save the world, I cannot. I am too small, and so is my past. Time is what is important. Embracing it, taking it slowly, using it for its full worth. We take so much advantage of time, we have labeled it and turned it into this negative entity. And all for what? So that we can push through it as fast as we possibly can? That is not what we are here to do. We do not live to rush as fast as possible towards death. We live to live. And living is in the now. It is in what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, and experience now. It is not 30 minutes from now. It is not 5 hours. Or a year or 5 years. It is how we take on the now so that in those time frames, when we reach that 5 years away, we can reflect and accept and smile at what we have done. Staying blind to the past and to the present, that is staying blind to what you are and all that you hold.