Greenlights

“I never wrote things down to remember; I always wrote things down so I could forget. The idea of revisiting my life and musings was a daunting one; I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy the company.”

McConaughey implies that his 35-year habit of documenting his life was incidental and for his own benefit of processing events, rather than contributing to a future memoir. At the beginning of his book, he thus builds up the difficulty and strangeness of revisiting his past. It is something he feels compelled to do, but also dreads. He fears that he will not enjoy the company of his past self and feel self-critical.

“I am the youngest brother of three and the son of parents who were twice divorced and thrice married, to each other. We grew up saying ‘I love you’ to each other. We meant it. I got whipped until my butt bled for putting on a Cracker Jack tattoo when I was ten.”

McConaughey offers a list of juxtaposing facts about his early life, indicating that he grew up in a colorful but turbulent household, where love mixed with loathing, but essentially won over. This is evident in his parents’ two divorces compared with their three marriages to each other and the open declarations of love, despite the physical violence in the household.

“Greenlights mean go—advance, carry on, continue. On the road, they are set up to give the flow of traffic the right of way, and when scheduled properly, more vehicles catch more greenlights in succession. They say proceed. In our lives they are an affirmation of our way.”

McConaughey defines the title concept of the book as a streamlined road to success. He uses the metaphor of the green traffic light to clearly illustrate a state where there is a lack of obstacles to the completion of a goal. In naming his memoir Greenlights, McConaughey hopes to frame his achievements in the