Happy Groundhog Day!

Groundhog Day, the movie, starring Bill Murray, is not just a comedy, although it was pretty funny. It is a highly philosophical commentary on living a meaningful life. Its deeper message is one that really should (and maybe, after this posting, could) enhance ( or maybe even replace) the usual message of Groundhog Day, the quasi-holiday.

Groundhog Day, the movie, portrays one man’s struggle to “get it right.” His challenge is to live the same day over and over in a town that is as near to hell for him as can possibly be imagined. It is filled with hicks and even some losers from his past. But in the end, after suffering, transformation and then enlightenment, he gets the girl—a prize of great worth.

Groundhog Day, the quasi-holiday, is also about the struggle to “get it right.” Poor Punxsutawney Phil has to peek out of his nice warm hole in the ground (Murray’s vapid life) and predict the weather for the next 6 weeks. He has to get it right enough times so that every year we come back for another round. Phil doesn’t seem to suffer, he has not transformed anyone save maybe the silly people who make a few bucks off of the forced fanfare, and he enlightened no one, as we all know that winter will still be here (at least in Buffalo) through the end of April, if we are lucky.

So where do these two meet? The groundhog, like Bill Murray, keeps trying, against his will, perhaps (where are those animal rights activists?) but is anyone really paying attention? Yes, the whole, silly world. So when Bill Murray keeps trying, is anyone really paying attention? Yes, the whole, silly world. And in particular, a few friends, and then one soon-to-be special woman.

By now, if you are still reading this highly sophomoric piece, you are wondering, what does this have to do with anything? Where is she going? Did the Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? (Yes, even I ask that dumb question every year hoping that maybe the prediction, that hope, will bring the rebirth of nature into spring that much more quickly).

So Groundhog Day, the movie and the quasi-holiday, are both about hope. Hope is impossible to predict. It is just there. A feeling that pushes you through the deepest, darkest times until you see a glimmer of what might be coming, sometimes sooner than you had a right to hope.

Hoping for spring is metaphorically melodramatic in its own way. Hoping for spring is hoping for rebirth nd a new beginning. Isn’t that what we all hope for? Everyday?

So here it is today, February 2, 2010, the end of the first decade of the 21st century. And as I write here in the early morning dark of Groundhog Day, I fervently hope Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow so that I might see the faint hints of spring when change is in the air. And then maybe this time we will get it right. We can get the girl (or the guy) or whatever you might wish for. One can always hope!