Walking the Line.

I finally watched "Walk the Line" (the Johnny Cash story) a couple of weeks ago and it's been in my mind heavily since.  I know for a fact a couple of my friends are probably tired of hearing me talk about it!  Sorry, folks.  Just from an acting point of view, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon owned it.  They completely owned those roles... learning how to play the instruments, singing their own songs to the point of mirroring The Man in Black and his wife nearly perfectly!  Wow!

Still... that's not what has stuck with me for two weeks.

Single people always talk about wanting to have that man or woman who has it all together.  All the time.  Yet, in real life, there seems to be an element of "rescuing" that happens with most couples that really make it. Cash was at his lowest point when June Carter finally agreed to marry him.  She'd already failed in two previous marriages and had children from both of them.  He had been successful, but was broke, drug-addicted and teetering on the edge of being forgotten.  She had grown up in a prominent family within country music but was now the outcast... the "whore" who couldn't make it work with good men.

They were both damaged goods in the eyes of many.  Maybe even in their own eyes?  But a funny thing happens when two people can both graduate to the point of realizing they need each other.  True partnership.  Thirty-five years marriage.  Old hurts forgotten.  Legacies forged.  It's a beautiful thing.

Also consider this...and I'll talk about it more another day... it's the original voices that we remember.  Unique voices are heard.  Copies are largely ignored.  Johnny Cash was an original.

The moral of the story today: don't be so afraid to need people.