I used to think that watching Avatar several times left you nothing new but memorization. I was wrong. Perhaps through this short summary of my journey, you can discover some new perspectives and layers of Avatar you didn't think about before.

As I stepped out of the movie theater that February evening, I was in a trance. Man, that was weird. But I like it. Over the next two months, I frantically searched every entry on Bing for screen shots to use as my computer wallpaper. 70 photos later, I joined this website. Soon I knew every character's last name and random trivia.

But that movie depressed me. Not like the people I read about in the news that were thinking suicidally, but rather as a dull ache. My world is nothing but concrete. All the green that's left is molded and trimmed until it too is fake and plastic. A homesick shudder racked my soul. But what was I homesick for?

As March and April came, I went out hiking at the nature preserve. The smell of dirt and leaves filled my nostrils as I watched the creek ripple past and heard its laughter. This is my home. This is Earth - God's creation, a masterpiece! It has life more diverse than anything you can make up. It's real, and unique, and marvelous; more so than Pandora. It's there; we just need to protect it. And my soul was at peace.

With this different perspective, my obsession grew like wildfire. I had Avatar all over my brain and started spitting out fan fiction ideas like a maniac. Needless to say, when I got the DVD as a late birthday present, I screamed in exultation. Not shrieked, or even whooped like the na'vi do when excited. I flat-out SCREAMED.

But for some reason, I didn't watch my DVD right away. I actually went to the theater to watch Avatar the second time. I was able to pick up on some foreshadowing and finer points--including the cursing, which I was not fond of. Then I went back to the Avatar wiki, fanfiction.net, and naviblue.com, thinking I didn't need the movie anymore unless I wanted screen-shots or facts. I thought I had seen all its layers.

But last night, as I watched it with a friend in my room, I was able to just lay back and enjoy the movie. And in that I found another layer. The sheer masterwork of every animated plant, the emotion the actors displayed, the awesome soundtrack, the beautiful landscape. Instead of focusing on the movie, I just took it in, feeling the People's pain as hometree fell, feeling the joy as Neytiri truly Saw the heart of her mate when he prayed before the battle, and feeling the angst as Jake fought against passing out as he suffocated in toxic air.

So next time I'm thinking of watching Avatar, I will remember that each time there will be another layer. The person who walked out of the movie theater that night never would have guessed she would love it this much and still be obsessed after six months. But for now, all I have to say is--third time's a charm!