telling stories

Today, my brothers and I headed over to the American Art Gallery and saw the new Norman Rockwell exhibit.  The exhibit is called, Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. 

I love Norman Rockwell probably just as much as the next person.  His paintings are warm and personal.  You feel like you could and would like to know most of the people in his paintings.  He gives you a sense that things are well or that they will turn out well. 

It was interesting to look at the collections from the perspective of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg since they are such successful film directors.  The emphasized that one of the things that they love about Norman Rockwell's paintings that he tells a story in one frame.  He captures details, emotions, and even action in a single picture.  

I love that idea and as I think about storytelling and wanting to be a better storyteller myself, there is a lot to learn from the idea of storytelling being like taking or painting a picture.  The writing of the story requires adding all of those details, the emotions, the movements, and the colors that make you feel like you know those characters or you have been in that place.  

I'd love to be as good of a storyteller as Norman Rockwell.

the soloist

I saw this movie last week and it has been on my mind ever since. Homelessness is an issue that I think about all the time. I intentionally seek to know the names of the homeless people that I see every day and I surround myself with people who love the homeless --more than I do.

I want to believe that merely treating people with dignity is a valuable contribution to the common good of all people and that for the thousands of people that might never escape the trap of poverty and homelessness, one person might feel the courage to seek help because someone affirmed them and treated them as a valuable person.

I have become less expectant of radical transformation since the days that I would go hang out on East Hastings in Vancouver, BC when I got to witness the incredible events that led to Trisha Baptie get off the streets through a simple relationship and a lot of other hard but good events.

I do believe transformation is possible, I believe there is hope for the most voulnerable, but what has changed is that I do not expect to be the catalyst for that change. I might get to help someone one day, I might not. I believe that I can be a friend along the journey. To be honest, that is all we really want sometimes anyway. I know I don't always want people to "help" me I just want someone to listen to me...

Even though it can be heartbreaking to befriend people who never get to escape the traps of poverty, I guess I could relate to "The Soloist". I don't know why sometimes things don't get fixed but, I guess the point is that none of us were really ment to be "soloists" we all need the suport of others to help us keep going and to make sense of it all.

Up

I just have to say that this is a great movie. It's funny how many people dream of adventure but never get around to it. I love Ellie in this movie. I can identify with her, sometimes I have a little too much enthusiasm. I guess I hope that I would be able to always embrace the simple things in my life and love them... but, I also hope that I'll get to have the adventures too! I wonder how many Ellie and Carl's there are out there...

enchanted by the Word

First, I fell in love with the Word, and then the spirit in it --the Inspiration-- and then (was it inevitable?) I fell in love with the Author who cannot be separated from the words and the spirit of the words because they are all mixed up and yet, they are all separate. "In the beginning was the Word."

It all started with the words that I read and loved. At first, I thought I loved the words but then I realized that it was the spirit of the words that captured me and filled me with wonder. Later, much, much later I saw that the words had an Author and that the Spirit came from and filled the Author who carefully chose the words. Without the Author the Words would not have been filled with the Inspiration that moved me.

Tonight, I had such a lovely experience. I went to see a documentary film called PALAVRA (EN)CANTADA (The Enchanted Word). In Portuguese the title is much more powerful because the word "enchanted" so obviously has the word "sung" in it. The film was lovely, an experience filled with music and nostalgic reflections on the power of story, poetry, and music. I loved the tensions felt about drawing from the richness of history and literature and the beauty of the colloquial, improvised music that is filled with rhythm, and makes you want to live, to dance.

I hope that I will always be as easily "enchanted" as I was tonight. I often feel captivated by the unusual things around me. I am particularly interested in what it is that gives people inspiration to create. The desert can be a source of inspiration, literature, a city, the masses of people, solitude... all of them can give you something wonderful. A glance, a spoken word, music played softly... the come filled with Inspiration from the Author.

I'm in love with the Word and the words...

How to portray poverty without offending the poor...

Not too long ago I went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire with some friends. The movie is a strange mix of a fairy-tale like romance and a horrible portrayal of what seems like a brutally cruel life in the slums of Mumbai. I left the movie with mixed feelings. It was happy? It was terribly sad? I don't know...

I was just reading about the very negative reaction that many people in India had towards the movie. There were protests about the use of the word "dog" in the title. Many people considered it offensive. At the same time, others have said that it is just that most people wouldn't be willing to be so brutally honest about the conditions that many people do live in. It's complicated, that's for sure.

Coincidence...

I just want you to meet my brother's creative side...

He made this last year while he was living in Costa Rica. Making these kinds of shorts is what he likes to do in his free time... it's fun.

Amelie

I don't know how many people have told me that I would LOVE the movie Amelie but there have been quite a few. The truth is, I have wanted to watch it for a really long time but I just hadn't had the opportunity. For some reason, tonight I told my brother that we should watch it and so we did.

Sometimes, when people tell me that I will love a movie, I'm not sure what they meant after I watch it but this time... oh my goodness. I haven't seen a movie that I identify with so much in a long time. Everyone was right, I loved it.

Enchantment with solitude, playful self-confidence, sweet independence, ridiculous imagination, pleasure in odd details, delight in helping others, fear of accepting what you give generously, peculiar bright colors, and French (I've been flirting with that language for years)... I loved it.