Groundhog Day

I can't say that I'm having the worst day of my life, over and over and over again, like Bill Murray in Harold Ramis' great film, Groundhog day. Actually, my day has been going fairly well.

At least that's what I'm thinking right now.

Let's apply a little Ignatian Sprirituality to, yes, Groundhog Day. I hope it will open all our eyes and allow us to get at the real heart of what this film speaks to, beyond the humor.

Rather than looking at the whole entire film, I'm going to examine what the experience was like when Bill Murray (yeah, I don't know what his character's name is, even though I have seen that movie many times, including once in theatres).

So I wake up to the sound of my neighbor in the bed & breakfast waking up to I Got You Babe by Sonny & Cher. This is actually quite odd because you would think Bill Murray and I would eventually realize we are BOTH perpetually reliving the same day over again.

I imagine I would get quite annoyed at this, as I don't normally enjoy waking up before 9 AM.

And yes, I expect Tooley to understand how annoying this is (read: alarm clock's going off in rooms where no one is).

So not only do I have to relive the day over and over again, but I have to relive being rudely awaken every morning by Sonny & Cher.

So this is torture?

Sartre wasn't too far off in No Exit when he said "Hell is Other People," but I'll qualify that with "Hell is Other People Waking You Up Before 9 AM."

The groundhog in Punxsutawney must feel the same way.