Check your Totem

Ok, so I am a few months behind the red carpet release on this occasion, but this week I finally caught up with the cinematic phenomena of Inception and, in the spirit of its sensational script and screen, I was suitably blown away.

Now, although some may say that I can be somewhat of a dreamer myself, it is a hobby that is not habitually harnessed simply due to the fact that I am intrinsically an insomniac by nature. Coincidentally, and not unconnected to this blogspiration, any typical decanting of anything de Capriesque would be on the basis of leveraging his acting ineption so to induce a deep sleep (you may have guessed, I am not particularly a fan) however on this occasion, and this will mean more to those of you who have shared the movie marvel, I would be prepared to risk the deep sleep sedation required for Limbo to spend more time with this storyline. Inception, by my judging, is most definitely the di Caprio exception, and quite possibly his perfection.

The movie is built on the concept that ‘an idea is like a virus.  Resilient.  Highly contagious.  The smallest seed of an idea can grow.  It can grow to define or destroy you’.

But, without entering into the seven complex levels of a dream (you can dissect that puzzle when you watch the film), it is this potential of the influential on the ongoing sequential that has set my post-movie mind meandering and led me to wonder, outside of slumber… just how much of a domino effect do we really have on our peers, or how does our choice of friends actually influence our trends?

Looking around it is clear our society does tend to gather in tribes - like-dressed fashions and music and similar tastes, a sense of commonality breeds a joined personality. But how much of our behaviour can actually create a similar flavour in others? Does a tattoo lose its taboo, just because our friends have one too? How many of us join a gym because our peer group is getting slim? Conversely, how is it we suddenly 'enjoy' a social life indoors just because our pals have turned into bores?

In keeping with the guidance on how to grasp the Inception reality, I wonder if outside of the dream we should all carry our personal totem as a check on our control of consciousness.

Are we really confident that our every choice is driven wholly by our own voice or, as we consider the many changes of traction in our actions, I wonder ...just how individually minded are we or do we all need a little inception to find perfection?

‘Til next time, Pandora