“The Legend of Bagger Vance” Book Reflection
Who are we if we are not beings of action? What makes the most remarkable figures of our time so formidable? They embodied what it means to act, to live a life of action. As Bagger Vance said at the end of Chapter 13, a page I will have bookmarked for eternity:
“Life is action, Junah. Even when we choose not to act, we act. We cannot do otherwise. Therefore, act with vigor.”
How profound a feeling every time I read those words. They dig at me to the core. They reveal my life’s cold, hard truth, pulling the cloak of lies I may have shed over me and proclaiming who I am now. Forget the past; forget the future. Am I acting with vigor now, with my whole intention? Here in the present? Or am I going to keep the status quo? And not step up to the plate, be brave, or take risks. Not chance failure, humiliation, or worse, success.
The book was less about golf and more about fulfilling the prophecy of one’s life. More about whether you took action to do so, now, whether you were called upon to do so or not.
What I found myself tangling with most throughout the book was, who was Bagger Vance? Who was Junah? Both are analogies to real life. If I think of it in psychological terms, Junah is the actual self, Bagger is the ideal and ought self in line; Junah is the discrepancy, and Bagger is the accordance, the conformity, the unity. Bagger is there to guide Junah and bring him back in harmony with his true self. Whom he was always destined to be. Junah is us in the present. Bagger Vance is our destiny.
The biggest lesson gained from the book was that Bagger Vance would not do it for Junah. Having hard things done for you never leads to self-actualization. This is only through self-action. In the book, Bagger allows and facilitates Junah to experience the roller-coaster of finding himself through the ups and downs of doubt, shame, success, arrogance, destruction, pity, clarity, and ascension.
Although Junah’s journey towards self-actualization took place on a golf course, it has occurred throughout human history. It’s the story of mankind. Junah is Man. Bagger is God.
Interested in reading it yourself? Check it out on Amazon!
Click here to read more of my book reflections.
