I'm Just Tryin' To Matter...

I watched the Academy Awards last night, as I do every year, and like every year, the hype didn't live up to the reality. Of course, in all fairness to Hollywood, not much in the world lives up to its hype, that's why it's called hype.

For me, the best moment of the evening came when Reece Witherspoon accepted her Best Actress Oscar for "Walk the Line." She quoted June Carter speaking about the way she lived her life, saying, "I'm just tryin' to matter."

That single quote was worth the entire four and a half hour show! In fact, it might have been the theme for the year's nominees. So many films (particularly those nominated for best picture) were about heavy, interesting, important matters, it really was an example of the heart of the reason for doing any kind of art and particularly a communal art like film.

It's also a beautiful and inspiring look at what each of us can be about. I remember seeing Johnny and June Carter Cash in a big concert in Tulsa over 30 years ago and even then, on a big stage, with all the lights down low, there was a weightiness to the presence, a feeling not unlike church when it's good. A sense that the people onstage and the people in the audience were binding together in a community of the moment for the purpose of wringing some meaning out of the world.

That one quote in that long show of largely meaningless self-congratulation made my night. It inspires me for the day, the week, and the months ahead.

I'm just tryin' to matter.