Not alone.

So... I distracted myself from a childless Christmas afternoon (no, no... I'm not moping about it. They came back this evening are all bathed and are sawing logs in their bedroom as I type this) by watching "Pan's Labyrinth" with my father. Fantastic movie... I had never seen it until today. A heavy watch tho'... I brought my sketchpad with me and figured I'd get some drawing in while I watching it and not having the little ones tugging the pad and pencil out of my hands. (My drawing time, as one can imagine, is severely limited.) But I never did get to draw... not only is the film subtitled but it's also one of those films you have to actually watch. Blink and you'll have missed something clever... or just plain cool.

This one scene floated above the rest and made a mental tattoo out of itself. The protagonist, a little girl named Opelia is laying in bed with her mother. Her mother remarried and her stepfather is quite a cruel man. Opelia asks her mother (paraphrasing, I don't have the screenplay in front of me) "Why did you have to get married?" Her mother answers "I have been alone for too long." Opelia whimpers and cuddles into her mother and responds with emotion... "You were never alone! You have me!"

One can understand why this scene resonates with me so strongly... unless one is particularly daft.

When I am tempted to wrap my arms around myself and charge my battery on emotions like self pity and loneliness... I don't have to look very far to realize that I am not alone.