Throughout most of life there will be found some kind of progression.
Whether you are looking macroscopic or microscopic there are
interesting organic patterns to be found.

As I watch shows like Heroes, Battlestar Galactica and others (even a
bubble gum show like Studio 60) I can see the use of those patterns in
the writing styles and visual elements.

Its kind of like taking chaos mathematics and fractal geometry and
applying it to a different visual medium.

I remember being fascinated by picture of the Mandelbrot set and other
computer graphic representations of fractal geometry equations. I
always wondered how that first person made the mental leap from
thinking about the mathematical equations to being able to visualize
it as an image.

Now the art has progressed that I can see the same type of recursive
and repeating patterns played out in modern media. Between the
visuals, the story elements, and even the music all working together
to give you a sense of the greater whole that still remains unseen.

Stretch your mind and shift your focus and allow yourself to touch
upon the minds of the philosophers as they contemplate the shadows on
the cave walls in an attempt to analyze the nature of the flames
providing the light.

*wry grin*

A discussion of the movie Pan's Labyrinth will await another time.
Needless to say I could see the shapings of the labyrinth in the
twisting of the plot, including the "moment" that one has in the
center. The only comment I have to make is that most of us have to
take the journey out from the center again, unlike the main character
of that movie.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started"

Excellent advice... I can think of a number of people that I would poke that bit of "ancient chinese wisdom" towards.  (because you know... Its the job of the Pot to teach the Kettle how to boil water)

which of course makes me think inward and examine how much I am successful or not in my attempts to break free of the inertia that I see in my life.

but the inward path is usually an easier one for me to walk at times.

Easier to keep track of where I'm going since its probably somewhere I've been before, even if its someplace I just don't happen to remember right off *grin*

Which is why I started to do my typical retro engineering attempt of the phrase as an attempt to define the variables of the equation, and I wondered to myself, "Getting ahead of what?"

There are two ways I can see that thought going. 

You need to have a clear idea what you are getting ahead of so you can start moving in the right direction.

Which has one particular set of challenges...  mostly the figuring out for yourself what it is that you need and want.  *grin*

The other path has me considering the fact that for our entire lives we have been hearing about all these different ways to "get ahead" and have been under such pressure to perform and excel in this world (don't get me started on my rant about the boardgame LIFE *wry grin*) that I have to wonder if all the "noise" has gotten to the point that it prevents us from getting anywhere.

Is that why some of the eastern schools of thought promote stillness?

and what does that say about my fortune cookie message?

*grin*