Took or Baggins?

As part of our Valentine's date, we decided to see The Hobbit at the theatre. Good thing---I think it was the last night it was showing! Having read the book years ago, I was interested to see if the movie played out the way I imagined it to. Happy to say it did not disappoint!

Interestingly, I found that I could relate to Bilbo.

Bilbo was a homebody. He didn't need to own anything extravagant, but he did appreciate the coziness of his simple abode.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

When invited to join a great adventure, his first response was 'Thanks, but no thanks'.

"We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"

Upon hearing that there were serious risks involved in this journey he was asked to join, he freaked out just a little.

"Poor Bilbo couldn't bear it any longer. At 'may never return', he began to feel a shriek coming up inside, and very soon it burst out like the whistle of an engine coming out of a tunnel... the poor hobbit could be seen kneeling on the hearth-rug, shaking like a jelly that was melting. Then he fell flat on the floor, and kept calling out 'struck by lightning, struck by lightning!' over and over again; and that was all they could get out of him for a long time."

But, the Took side (his mother's side) of Bilbo "was only waiting for a chance to come out. Something "Tookish" woke up inside him when he thought about the grand adventure offered to him. " He ended up joining the group of Dwarves on their 'long journey' to claim the gold treasure from Smaug the Dragon.

Bilbo Baggins had an adventure and "found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected...He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained -- well, you will see if he gained anything at the end." (read the book).

Don't we all have a little bit of Took and Baggins inside each of us? There's the part that craves comfort and security and knowing exactly what is going to happen each and every day. But we also have a part that is looking for meaning and adventure--something greater and more mysterious than the here and now...something risky. In the end, that's what makes life worth living.

Are you more Took or Baggins?