Helpless

I've always loved this Neil Young song. My wife and I saw Away from Her recently, and I loved K. D. Lang's version, too, which is on the soundtrack. The song speaks to me about the human condition, my condition, about how we like to feel we're in charge of our lives, of life, we like to feel in control, but in reality, we aren't, and there is beauty in that, along with the pain. The movie seems to be about all that, too, about having to face our own mortality, our own helplessness. The movie is about an extremely heart-wrenching, painful situation, a man having to come to terms with the fact of his wife's Alzheimer's disease. And in showing the painful truth, the movie is simultaneously heartbreaking and beautiful. I've titled this blog Helpless, because I like the song, and because that's how I feel, and it feels all right, it feels alive, to be aware that I am helpless.