Member-only story
“Just Let Go”
The scene from the fight club that always haunted me the most was when they were in the car driving down the highway. Tyler started letting the car drift off the road, and Ed Norton, aka “The Narrator,” kept trying to grab the wheel. Tyler responds, “Look at you. You’re pathetic. Stop trying to control everything, and JUST LET GO!”
That’s me. The narrator — always reaching for the wheel. Except I probably should be listening to Mr. Durden because some things, no matter how desperately I wish I could control, I simply can’t.
Just. Let. Go.
I don’t know how to do that. That’s probably why the scene impacts me so much. I watch Edward Norton reply, “Alright, Fine,” and give up. The car proceeds to drift off the highway then everything goes into slow motion. That’s how life is, isn’t it?
Those moments when we really try to grab ahold of the wheel and steer which way we want it to go end up in a slow-motion car wreck, no matter whether we reach for the wheel or not. Because sometimes there is nothing any of us can do.