Where is David Lynch when you need him?
Summer, 2000. A 15 year old kid is left home alone, as his parents and sister go away for holidays. The kid insists he can manage by himself. And it works! He feels awesome. And free as fuck! He spends the next two weeks partying, hanging out with friends, and watching movies. Sometime during those 14 days, one of his friends brings DVD’s of Lost Highway, Mullholland Dr. and Eraserhead. He assures him that he’ll definitely like them, and laughs with a bit of provocation in his eyes. But the kid really does like them. He adores them! David Lynch is his heroic guru from that summer on!
»yes, even “Rabbits”«
In retrospective, the film that opens up Pandora’s box is “Eraserhead”. Not because it’s so fantastic, he honestly doesn’t even like it as a movie that much. But it touches and transfigures him because it is the highest form of self-expression he has ever seen. It somehow illustrates exactly how images appear in his mind, too! He can’t believe it! The imagery he’s seeing seems truer somehow! Lynch inspires the kid into wanting to make movies. Unbeknownst to the real David Lynch, he guides and inspires the kid all throughout his late teens and his twenties (yes, even with “Rabbits”, 2002).
Years later, still excited about finally having some Lynch in his life again (“Twin Peaks”, 2017), the kid, now kind of grown up, listens to an old interview Lynch gave on his book, Catching the Big Fish. The kind of grown up kid had read the book years earlier, but wasn’t really affected by it then. In the interview though, Lynch talks about transcedental meditation. Somehow, hearing that interview inspires the kid to actually try out meditation that same day (not transcedental, though). That decission later re-shapes his approach to life in ways he can’t begin to imagine as he first sits down to meditate. David Lynch is his inspirational guru once again. And he still meditates daily, a year and a half later.
»What’s not to love about that?«
More than two decades after first seeing his films, the kid who’s become a man sees that David Lynch’s movies are now to him very much about finding acceptance and letting go. Acceptance brings smiles, coffee and donuts. And what’s not to love about that? But where is David Lynch now? How can the man find some of his wisdom today? Whenever there was an important intersection in the man’s life, Lynch was there to offer his five cents. As it turns out, and quite appropriately, David Lynch now makes daily weather forcasts on Youtube in his very own David Lynch way. And the man, who will always be a kid, understands. Daily or weekly self-appointed journeys build character and bring more peace of mind. And it’s nice to find appreciation in how the sun shines or how clouds form. He sees the truth of it. Heck, he’s writing a weekly blog and feels he’s becoming a better person for it. He realizes that even if Lynch never directs another thing, he has received enough guidance for a lifetime. And David Lynch will always be my guru.