Friday, February 22, 2013

365 Inspirations—53: Nowhere Boy (John Lennon)

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance."—John Lennon


John Lennon has always been an inspiration to me, but I did not know his early life story and how he got started in music. His early life was a tumultuous one and you can easily see how it inspired much of his music.

Young Lennon was raised by his aunt Mimi and his uncle George. His father left the family when John was only four years old. His mother was not prepared to take care of John on her own, so he was raised by his aunt and uncle.

While he was growing up, he learned, through a cousin, that his mother lived in the same neighborhood. She had remarried and had two daughters. When he showed up unexpectedly at her doorstep, his mother welcomed him and they spent a beautiful time getting to know each other. However, he was still troubled by the fact that his parents had abandoned him. He later learned that his mother had had an affair and a daughter while still married to Lennon's father.

The young John Lennon obviously and rightly had much angst over his early childhood situation, but finally came to the conclusion that "there's no point hating someone you love."

When he was kicked out of high school, his mother took him in and taught him how to play the banjo. She was an influence on his early interest in music and was there for many of his early musical performances.

Just as he was getting to know his mother for the first time, she was hit by a car and died.

By this time, John had formed a band and threw himself completely into his music and became a legend.

I was touched by this movie. It was a good Friday afternoon video rental. It made me realize how our lives are often shaped by our very early experiences. Interestingly, we often don't really know the early life stories of many well-known artists.

Often we just see the success of certain people and don't realize what they went through to get to where they are now. John Lennon will always be remembered for his music and his lyrics. He touched millions of people, but he also had to live through quite a bit of pain in his life.

I highly recommend Nowhere Boy. It was an excellent rental. My husband loves to browse the library for good movie rentals and always comes home with a nice little stack of movies. It's one of his greatest joys.

Do you like to watch movies at home? Have you seen any good ones lately?

6 comments:

  1. I have always loved John Lennon too. Thanks for the movie recommendation. I will definitely check it out!

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  2. John Lennon was a true soul before his time. One of the deepest souls ever.

    I do love to watch movies at home. The best movie I saw recently (in the theater - not at home) was Silver Linings Playbook. I'm seeing Lincoln tonight!!!

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    1. Yes I agree Keith! Silver Linings Playbook was GREAT! Haven't seen Lincoln yet.

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  3. Thanks for the recommendation--it sounds good! We haven't watched any movies at home lately. I would love to see Silver Linings Playbook.

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    1. Silver Linings Playbook is an EXCELLENT movie too!

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