are you picking up breadcrumbs?
I’ve written about breadcrumbs before–you know those little clues that when you find them seem to make sense and act as a confirmation, a reminder of what you’ve already known, or a sign that maybe you’ve been “there” before.
I had another breadcrumb experience this week.
I’ve been listening to Steven Pressfield’s audiobook Govt Cheese and watching a bunch of his podcast appearances for inspiration and motivation. If you haven’t read or heard of Govt Cheese, I highly recommend it. I’m only partway through, but his story is very inspiring and probably not what you would expect from such a legendary author.
In one of the podcasts, I was listening to the host, and Steven began talking about his book, The Legend of Bagger Vance.
Until last year, I had no idea that Pressfield wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance; all I knew was that I loved the movie featuring Will Smith and Matt Damon. I remember watching it countless times, which is interesting when I look back on it because it is a movie about golf—well, it’s a movie about life set on the golf course. And anyone who knows me knows that, despite my grandfather’s loving efforts, I’m not a big fan of golf. So the fact that I loved (and still love it — it’s in our Apple TV library) a movie centered on golf is a bit of a surprise.
But what I confirmed this week was that The Legend of Bagger Vance is a breadcrumb–telling me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and I’ve always been on this path.
This is not the first time I noticed the Bagger Vance breadcrumb.
I can’t find the podcast episode, but I’ve talked about the connection to the authentic swing that Matt Damon’s character is trying to find, and how, when I would watch the movie when I was younger, I would always equate that to finding my authentic shot—my unique shot on the basketball court. The breadcrumb part was the idea of the authentic swing and shot, which is very much connected to the authentic life, but that concept would not come to me until much later in life.
This first breadcrumb wasn't something I spent a lot of time thinking about, but just something I looked back at and thought was a cool connection between high school me and older me.
This new breadcrumb builds upon the swing-shot-life connection.
Interestingly enough, Steven Pressfield hates the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance because it left out “too much,” which has bumped the book further up my reading list so that I can get to it sooner. As he explained what the movie neglected, he said his story was loosely based on The Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is the most famous of Indian scriptures, and I purchased it as I built out my library of religious and spiritual books.
The Bhagavad Gita breadcrumb made me wonder whether a future version of my Self planted The Legend of Bagger Vance to teach me lessons I was unaware of at the time and that would later become a bigger part of my life.
I don’t know, but I don’t believe in coincidences.
Whatever the breadcrumb actually means, it serves as confirmation that I’ve been continuing on the path I was supposed to be on—connecting life as a teen with the current version of my Self.
Do breadcrumbs show up for you?
What are they telling you?
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
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