Gumption

gump·tion n [origin unknown] 1: shrewd practical common sense esp. as actively applied to the problems of life 2: enterprise, initiative syn see SENSE

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the movie The Holiday. I just loved it. I am Iris in so many ways. Except, of course, that I look nothing like Kate Winslet. (dammit). Here is a quote from the movie that tells you who Iris is:

"I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night. And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. Its called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space! Yes, you are looking at one such individual. And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life! The worst Christmas', the worst Birthday's, New Years Eve's brought in by tears and valium. These years that I have been in love have been the darkest days of my life. All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who does not and will not love me back. Oh god, just the sight of him! Heart pounding! Throat thickening! Absolutely can't swallow! All the usual symptoms."

Another great character in the movie is Arthur, played by Eli Wallach. He is so adorable!! I just wanted to pick him up and put him in my pocket. Anyway....He introduces Iris to early Hollywood, by giving her a list of old movies to watch. One theme that seems to run through these movies is that the leading ladies all have GUMPTION! And by the end of the movie, so does Iris. She becomes the leading lady of her life.

Time for me to do that too.....I'm not sure how, but I'm gonna do it!!!!!