Rachael McAdams passionately running in the rain towards Ryan Gosling in The Notebook.
Kate Winslet “flying” on the boat with Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.
Kate Beckinsale throwing the glove on to John Cusack on the ice rink in Serendipity.
Keira Knightley running out to kiss Andrew Lincoln in Love Actually.

Just a sampling of some of my favorite movie moments, moments that give us butterflies, a warm and fuzzy feeling, a why doesn’t this happen in real life mentality? Well, although our movie moments may not be as dramatic as the ones above, we definitely have movie moments in our everyday life that any audience would envy.

Because we’re living our life and not watching it, we tend to miss these moments. We catch glimpses of them when life slows down, or when we are prepared for a moment, such as our wedding day, or the day our children are born. We know in advance these days are going to be special, and if you’re like me, you try to take pictures with your brain of every second of those days.

But even on ordinary days, our lives present us with movie moments. When my husband comes home with a card and flowers, just because he loves me, that’s a movie moment. If Channing Tatum did that in a movie, we would gush and say “Oh, how romantic.” It shouldn’t be any less, in fact it should be more romantic, when it happens in our reality.

Even if we don’t see them, people around us see our moments, they watch “our” movie.  An elderly couple holding hands walking down the street (movie moment); a new mom being wheeled out of the hospital gazing at her baby (movie moment); a flash mob breaking out on the street in front of us (movie moment); a man on one knee holding a ring box and a girl with her hands over her mouth in awe (movie moment). We are gushing at these moments, but maybe the “stars” don’t even realize they’re acting for us.

If I really think about my life, I have tons of moments that I can imagine on the big screen. Running through the airport with my best friend Vicky to greet another best friend Cindi after years of not seeing each other. Meeting my husband at a nightclub and knowing within ten minutes of talking to him I wanted to marry him. Watching my sister take care of my son, and thinking about what a great Mom she will be one day, and how lucky I am to have a sister like her. Listening to my brother’s music and crying because he’s not my little brother anymore, he’s a talented adult with nothing but greatness ahead of him. Getting a card from my Mom with words of encouragement or love that I read over and over and replay in my head for years to come.

In a movie, these moments would be exaggerated so we would know they were important. Dramatic music would play as we ran through the airport and slow motion would ensue as we embraced our friend. Flashbacks of my brother as a child would play over the screen of me listening to his music, eliciting emotion from the audience so they could connect with how I feel. My mom’s card would be read out loud, like Jeremy Piven’s best man/obituary in Serendipity.

My list goes on and on, as I’m sure yours does to. We live in a fast-paced, do it now, do it quick, rush, rush, rush lifestyle and we rarely take time to appreciate or recognize moments. Realize that everyone has screen-worthy events going on everyday.
Witness them. Watch life. Live in your moments.

Your movie is by far the greatest one you will ever see. 🙂