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“Where the Wild Things Are” is the perfect Courageous Loving movie. It truly asks its hero the question: “Who are your relationships calling you to become?” and takes him on a journey to discover the answer.

Like the book, it follows young “Max” on an adventure to escape his frustration over being punished for bad behavior – but it is so much more.  It lets the viewer swim through a gentle storm of neurosis, neediness, criticism, loneliness, codependency, abandonment, lying, reactivity, anger, bitterness, heartache, narcissism, rejection and fear — but somehow does so in a way that you feel like you are receiving a deeply satisfying bear hug.  I’ve never seen a movie that seems to embrace so much vulnerable behavior so quickly and with such density.  It is a visual representation of everything that I believe in on this journey of healing and personal power.

Think of it this way – imagine taking all the negative attitudes, language and behavior of everyone in your life, your parents, your partners, your children.  Take all the things you don’t like about them, all the things that trigger you and all the things you haven’t forgiven them for. Somehow, suddenly you find a way to make those negative character traits palatable to you, even enjoyable, like old friends.  Then throw all those character traits in a muddy lake, take off your clothes and swim in the lake like it was the warmest day in the summer and the water never felt so refreshing.  That’s what it’s like to watch this movie.

When we work with clients, we take them through a system that has them swimming through their dark side.  One’s toughest relationship frustrations are a call to one’s deepest growth. We go into the darkness. What’s cool is that this movie gives me so much hope.  It sprinkles such bittersweet joy onto this process, as we witness Max find his way to become King of his dark inner world. I could hardly find a finer role model than this film to teach people what this journey is all about.

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Warmly, Michael