Maps can Only take you so Far
Written By : Grace Wedienhamer
A group of girlfriends spending the summer galavanting through Europe before starting their real lives, a meet-cute with a handsome nomad, a spontaneous adventure that goes against the plan, and the struggles of growing into your adult self. What more could you ask for in a modern rom-com?
Last night I watched the new movie ‘The Map That Leads To You”, which gave me the inspiration for this article. Without spoiling too much, Heather, played by Madelyn Cline, meets Jack, played by KJ Apa, on her trip to Europe. An accidental run in turns into the best two weeks of her life, a new romance, and an opportunity to live in the moment without a plan for the future.
I related to this movie simply because their dueling personalities felt similar to the inner workings of my brain. Heather, a type-A planner, worrier, and hopeless romantic, battled with the feeling that the life she planned for herself didn’t align with what she actually wanted, but was scared to jump into the unknown.
Jack, a free-spirited traveler following the journal of his great-grandfather to lead him towards his next adventure, preached living in the moment without a plan and believes in speaking what you want into existence.
As stressful as Jack’s nonchalant attitude was, he gave Heather the greatest gift: a taste of freedom. Freedom from her own mind, the plan she laid out for her future, and hope for what her future could look like.
In the movie, Heather was big on knowing her purpose. She felt like she had to know her purpose in order to lead a fulfilling life. But when living out her life plan left her unsatisfied, she realized that the true meaning of life is not what you do, but who you do it with.
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in all the things we want to do, have done, or feel like we have to accomplish. We spend our lives chasing the next thing, the bigger thing, the feeling of satisfaction, that we forget that life is about the people we love, the people we touch, and the experiences we get to have with them.
I won’t give too much away, but at the end of the movie, Heather tells Jack that she doesn’t need him to promise her an ending. She just wants to live their story together, for however long that is.
Our futures aren’t promised. If we spend too much time planning ahead instead of enjoying the present, we’ll miss out on the story that we’re living in with the people that make it all worth it.