The 1998 movie “Sliding Doors” had a profound effect on me. It tells two versions of a character’s life. In the first she misses the subway on her way to a job interview. She goes back to her apartment to find her boyfriend in bed with someone else. The story then starts again, but this time she makes the train and meets an interesting man. The movie continues on these two tracks until the two versions converge at the end.
This movie prompted me to think about the countless little events of life that determine how one’s life is built. You make the subway or you don’t. A chance occurance puts you beside this person or that person. Your boss comes to work on a fateful day or he stays home sick. There are countless little things that happen — or don’t — that shape who we are and how our lives are built, and who we become. Lately, I have found myself paying closer attention to these little events or circumstances and wondering what they mean.