I’m gonna say this once. ‘Gonna say it simple. And I hope to God for your sakes you all listen. There are no Abominable Snowmen. There are so Sasquatches. There are no Big Feet!
Harry and the Hendersons
As the father of five gen Z’s, I feel I have God given role in the lives of my children that only I can fulfill. This responsibility I take with great seriousness. Only I can lay the proper foundation of great cinematic disciplines. In short, I force them to watch classic 80’s films.
This exclusive list of life lessons has included a search for One Eyed Willie’s treasure, time traveling in a DeLorian, and most critically how to take the most perfect day off of school. Anyone, anyone, anyone?
To my surprise, the film of the decade that captured the attention and hearts of my squad was Harry and the Hendersons. It is part science-fiction, part physical comedy as a Sasquatch takes up residency with a suburban family. It is the heart felt tale of Big Foot and an all American family finding common ground and acceptance of each other’s differences. It did so well they spun a failed sit-com from it.
This critical piece of cinematography led the young minds of mine to the deep conversation of “is Big Foot real?”
I will take my stance by quoting the movie:
I’m gonna say this once. ‘Gonna say it simple. And I hope to God for your sakes you all listen. There are no Abominable Snowmen. There are so Sasquatches. There are no Big Feet!
For that matter, there are no Unicorns, leprechauns, talking cereal rabbits or Loch Ness Monster. Somewhere we got sold a bag of myth like the undiscovered pot gold at the end of every rainbow. I have searched, there is no gold. Yet it seems as if a huge chunk of our life is spent chasing the unicorn.
I know some dude is sitting there chest hair protruding from a deep v-neck t-shirt proclaiming you would never chase a unicorn. But you do. We all do it we just don’t know we do. We all chase unicorns.
Have you ever seen a unicorn? Of course not. They are mythical, magical creatures that only exist in our imagination and Rainbow Brite cartoons. Sure you can buy one on a felt neon color poster that glows in the dark with a black light hanging in your college dorm room but it doesn’t mean it really exists. Some people spend their entire life chasing the mythical single horned white horse.
By now you think i have lost my mind, but let me explain. The unicorn of your life is what you chase that you will never catch (because it doesn’t really exist). It is the fantasy you create in your mind that has little to do with the reality of your life. Unicorns are fun when you are a kid. They capture our attentions and imaginations. They seem like something we want to be or become. But it is never who we really we are.
For 14 years we have watched unicorn chasing on television. We called it American Idol. Scattered in between the 8 or 10 legitimate singers were hundreds of people whose mama had lied to them. They showed up waiting for hours, standing in lines around other sweaty unicorn chasers believing they could become a star. You and I, admittedly laughed at these atrocities of musical mess. Yet, in the mind of every contestant, they believed their destiny was the bright lights of the stage.
No, no it wasn’t. They had zero business being in line, let alone in front of the judges.
While most of us had not made of mockery of our family name in front of millions of viewers, we are all just as guilty. Your unicorn is the relationship you chased that you had zero business being in but kept believing it was “meant to be”.
You chased the magical myth of a job or career you had to have to create the status you needed to keep up with. Now you are just trying to keep up the facade that everything is okay.
Your unicorn may have been the belief that the infidelity of your spouse would eventually end and you would eventually get the white picket fence front porch family of your dreams.
They are all unicorns. Every one is a greener pasture on bigger mountain with better sheep feeding on the green, green grass.
I have spent most of my adult life chasing unicorns. I have chased mythical beliefs of a life that would never really happen. I have created goals and dreams that were not mine to chase. It left me hurting, helpless and striving for all the wrong things in life. I was chasing after things that I would never catch because they were never mine to chase to begin with.
So I started chasing rainbows.
Now I know you think I have really lost my mind. But hang with me. In the book of Genesis, God made a promise to Noah that he would never flood the earth again. As a guarantee of that promise he gave Noah a sign, a rainbow.
The rainbow is a symbol of God’s promise. So instead of chasing the myths of my life, I started chasing the promises of God. I don’t think my story is that unique. I think most of us have spent more time chasing the wrongs things instead of pursuing the promises of God.
When we pursue promises instead of myths we find that our life fits perfectly into the plan God had for us. Now don’t get me wrong, it is not always a picturesque sunset with ROYGBIV bouncing off a cloudless sky. But what we do find is our place. We find our purpose. We find our fit. We find peace. We find joy. We find that what we do is important and significant. We find that places and people that God has had for us all along.
What I have learned in my adventures in the lush land of life is that when I pursue the promises, instead of chasing the myths I find myself perfectly in the place of where I am supposed to be. I find myself content with me. I find joy in my journey. I find that capacity to authentic. I find that chasing rainbows is better than chasing unicorns.
So quit chasing unicorns. Start chasing rainbows.
