TiMer: A good or not so good idea?

I was in the video store the other day and came across a little indie movie which looked really intriguing. It was called TiMer and the basic storyline was of a 29 year old women who was looking for her soulmate in a society where people over the ages of 14 could have implanted in their wrists timers which counted down to the day they'd meet their soulmate. The moment you set eyes on your mate, both you and your soulmate's timers will go off simultaneously.

Now the catch is not every timer implanted reflects a countdown to meeting your soulmate. Many are blank and that's because a person's timer will not commence counting down UNTIL their soulmate implants their own timer.

That, my friend, lies the twist.

Now this movie got me thinking. Say we existed in such a world and the following happened: What would you do if you met someone you had a connection to, but knew that based on this timer system, that he was not The One? What would you do?

One might argue that it wouldn't be worth the investment. Love is after all about investment (to an extent). Putting in the hard yards, the effort, the care to create something meaningful with someone you share a connection with. If you knew for a fact that he had his own soulmate (as you did) and that he would meet her in say 156 days 16 minutes and 37 seconds, would you be prepared to suffer the heartbreak, pain and eventual separation from him should you accidentally fall for him in the process of being with him in the here and now?

Would you take that detour knowing that you'd definitely lose him to another in precisely that many days?

The premise of the film is so interesting. I mean love is something we can all agree is incredibly uncertain but what would you do if you knew with certainty you were not to be with someone?

Humans are odd creatures. Perhaps like Oona you choose to pursue the relationship and find joy with someone who you know you won't end up with.

Maybe that isn't so wrong at all.

I walked away from the film thinking that it showed another way of being. That perhaps we shouldn't see the skewed decisions we make about our relationships as huge mistakes to be shoved into our past. That perhaps this film is a celebration of what life is actually around - detours. In this sci - fi love story, Oona clearly and knowingly took a detour with Mikey (her love interest) and ended up finding much joy and friendship from the pairing. The lessons she learnt aren't something I myself can even articulate but I do know that she developed as a person in ways that helped her be a better partner for her eventual partner.

It's often said that humans are hedonistic creatures, driven by pleasure but I think it's much simpler than that.

We just want to be loved - and some of us are prepared to go on detours to experience that.