Keep Breathing

       This movie extremely inspires me. I am also into the title of this TV series. When we come to this world, the first important thing we need to learn is to breathe. It also gives another meaning to explain “Keep breathing”. As time goes by, we fully grow up. To face this competitive environment, we have to fight over what we want. We have to overcome obstacles like Liv, the heroine, who survived from a chopper crash in the lake. Waking up, she found out she was on the chopper floating on the lake. She was calm looking around and was thinking how to get out of the chopper. She managed to swim to the bank of the lake. For the next couple of days, she stayed there and was trying to come up with the ways she could get out of the forest. As long as we are alive, all of us need to keep breathing and continue fighting. While watching these episodes one after the other, I was thinking how many days I could survive in the forest or if I had any existential skills to avoid dying there without anyone knowing where I was. If I were her, how could I do it? Could I survive on a chilly night? How could I prevent myself from becoming delicious food for bears? How could I have a right direction without a compass? How could I not turn myself into a pile of white bones? Otherwise, this wilderness, which was filled with sunlight, wild animals, and trees surrounded as well as fertile soil, turned into my big comfortable bed where I could sleep for good. However, what kind of person could survive from a very bad environment? Is it associated with her willpower or her luck?  

     Liv’s father was Colombian and mother was Argentine and her mother was a painter, but they migrated to the United States. Liv’s childhood was dull and dark because her parents argued at all times. All she could do was keep quiet. Sometimes, she saw her mom painting some characters, but all of their faces were covered by red paint. She saw her mom painting a house with flowers surrounding, which was beautiful scenery, but her mom marked a cross on the house. “Why?” Liv asked. “A house is a prison.” Her mom replied. At her tender age, she couldn’t understand adults’ worlds and thoughts. She couldn’t understand her mom’s freakish behavior. Sometimes, she laughed. Sometimes she cried. Sometimes she even forgot to pick Liv up from the school. One day, she woke up and couldn’t find her mom. It was evident that her mother abandoned her. It makes a huge difference that a kid has this bad situation in his or her growing environment. Her parents’ relationship also caused her to have mental health problems. Day by day, her learning got affected, she lost her attention to everything, and she didn’t even make friends. Her mind was filled with fears. Not only was she worried about if her dad left her like her mom, but she also kept asking herself why her mom abandoned her. There were a lot of questions in her mind. At her age, children need a lot of attention, a sense of security, and love from parents. They should enjoy school life and learning at school as well. All these things were what Liv didn’t have in her life, so she was lonely. She liked drawing. She drew as if she disappeared gradually in silence. There is without doubt that this tough situation made her strong and independent. However, what remains to be seen is if this personality caused herself to be alive in the forest.

      After her father died, Liv was unmindful of cleaning up his bookshelf. With something shoved in the corner, Liv pulled them out. All of a sudden, some letters and postcards dropped off. She picked them up slowly and read them in surprise. One letter wrote, “Liv, I miss you so much. I am in Peru. This place is wonderful. I wish you could come to visit me here.” Another letter wrote, “Liv, I miss you and love you. Do you take good care of yourself? I wish I could see you right now.” Liv read them one after the other. One postcard wrote, “Liv, I am in Inuvik until September. I miss you so much. I wish I could see you here.”

         For many years, these letters had never shown up. Her father hid them. Liv was speechless to stand up and turned around to look at the calendar, which the date was August 23th. Liv made up her mind to fly to Inuvik to visit her mom. She had kept these riddles in her mind for many years after her mom left. Now she finally had a chance to undo those riddles. She couldn’t even wait one more second.

       At the airport, Liv’s plane was canceled due to a storm, but she couldn’t just sit there and wait for the next flight. Luckily, she overheard Sam and Jack, who she didn’t know yet, talking about flying to Inuvik. It popped into her mind that there was a good chance that they could give her a ride. She walked toward them and tried to convince them to take her with them. Instead of taking an airplane, Liv took a helicopter, which the route wasn’t registered with. Nevertheless, she didn’t know about it. She boarded the chopper with a happy and nervous mood. Looking out of the window, all memories between Liv and her mom started coming out as if it just happened yesterday. She never knew that this simple thought turned into an unprecedented trouble she’d ever encountered when the chopper crashed. Waking up, she found out she was on the chopper floating on the lake. She was calm looking around. Jack was dead already and Sam was shouting,” Help me! I cannot swim. Help me! I cannot swim.” Liv undid her seat belt and also helped Sam undo his belt. Sam looked shocked and kept flapping his hands on the water. She rescued not only herself but also Sam. “Sam, Sam, please calm down, or both of us drown here.” Liv shouted “I got you. Let me guide you to swim to the bank.” That day was their first day in the forest.

         Have you ever experienced scouting or camping? For the first day, do you know what we need to do? We might set up the camping tent first and then prepare the food. Then how do you make a bonfire? We live in a modern world with a great deal of incredible technology around. We make everything impossible possible. What else are we not able to do? However, what if something happens like what Liv had? Then what can we do? We probably have never thought about these things though. There is no charcoal, no lighter, no warm clothes and so on. We are probably not going to last even for a day in the forest, are we? The chopper was sinking deeply down while Liv and Sam were swimming to the bank. However, Sam’s leg was wounded badly and bleeding a lot, so he was unable to do anything for himself. Liv had to make a simple tourniquet with his belt for him. After that, Liv tried to call for help with her phone or Sam’s phone. Unfortunately, there was no signal. “Sam, I am not leaving you. I am trying to find a signal.” Liv shouted, “I will come back. Don’t worry.” She climbed the mountain higher and higher. What she found was not a signal but a beautiful view that a lake was surrounded by many undulating mountains. The amazing scenery she saw was in contrast with the feeling she got in her mind. She stood there hopelessly. She didn’t even know what to do next. She broke down to shout and yelled, “Fuck! Are you kidding me?” She had no choice but to go back to the place where Sam lied down. She sat beside him speechlessly. In the deep night, she took a lot of leaves to cover up Sam’s and her body. For the first crazy day, she needed to have a good sleep to continue fighting for tomorrow.

      It was a new day. Sam felt better to ask, “Where is the plane and Jack?” “When the plane crashed, Jack died. We are just going to have to wait for other people to find us. Jack logged the flight plan, didn’t he?” said Liv. “No, they’re not coming. We are on our own. No one knows we are here and no one’s coming here.” said Sam. After the chopper crashed and Jack died in the deep lake, now Sam told her Jack didn’t log the flight plan. What is worse news than this? Liv was speechless and stood up slowly to look around. She was in the deep forest, where nobody knew where it was. She couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. At that moment, she didn’t know how to cry and the hopeless feelings were even beyond description. Sitting in the hole of the logs to prevent herself from getting cold until the night, all of the memories popped into her mind about her family and Danny who she had sex with. Danny was not only a person who Liv worked with but was a nice person who was introduced to be Liv’s boyfriend by her worker. Liv pulled out a photo of baby ultrasound from her bag. She was looking at that photo quietly and felt the tiny point gently with her finger. The baby was hers and Danny’s. In that important moment, she was dying to protect this baby, she knew that she couldn’t give up. She didn’t want to be like her mom abandoning her. She knew she would have more challenges for the next couple of days. To figure out how to get out of the wilderness, she needed to stay calm. That day was their second day in the forest.

  (continue…)