Day: December 20, 2016

This is movie week for me, the week before Christmas each year when I try to see as many of the hot movies of the year as I can. It’s part of slowing down, although not all that much. I work all day and hit a movie theater at night.  I love movies, and find few things are as  relaxing. Our Christmas Day movie will be La-La Land.

I saw two movies already this week, each as different from the other as it is possible to be.

Monday evening I saw Rogue One, billed as a Star Wars story, which it sort of is and isn’t, and tonight, Manchester By The Sea. Unlike the original Star Wars, the first of the epic, this is not a great movie. It is fun, entertaining, diverting, utterly predictable and almost indistinguishable from others in the series, except it has a powerful feminine hero – Felicity Jones as the very brave Jyn Erso, and a dashing love interest and fellow warrior, Diego Luna.

I enjoyed it, partly  because my expectations were in check. It has the Disney stamp on it, action and little real drama, great special effects, funny and light moments, wisecracks and stunning location shots and some glimpses into the evil Galactic Empire as it begins its conquest of the universe.

There are of course, way too many explosions and aerial battles to count or even keep track of, and I found the garbled plot too familiar. I’ve seen too many geeky Rebel pilots slam into those space shields in my life. The film’s stars, as always, are gorgeous.

And why does this seem so familiar? A giant Death Star capable of blowing whole planets to smithereens, a vibrant and fearsome Darth Vader, a desperate rush to find the Death Star’s structural weaknesses, a monumental space battle that does, like space, sometimes seems infinite.

And forgive me for asking, but why does the Empire need such a vast death start when they have countless troopers, destroyers and zippy fighter planes? I hate to think of their military budget, and those Death Stars always seem to have some flaw.

I’ve seen this movie before.

Having said that, I enjoyed it.  There is no better distraction from the pressures of life than a movie like this in the hands of studios like Disney. I am fond of bright colors, dazzling effects, bloodless violence, lots of laser beams and countless explosions.

And There is no new or amazing ground broken here, but I don’t think anyone will be disappointed, it is a spectacle, it does not brush the soul like the first movies in this series, but it is certainly entertaining and diverting.

__

Tonight, Maria and I went to see Manchester By The Sea, which stars Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges. This is a movie about a tormented uncle forced to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy’s father dies suddenly. It is a wonderful movie, wrenching and relentless.

I think Affleck’s acting is some of the best and most affecting I have ever seen. Kenneth Lonergan never yields to Hollywood notions of romance, cheesy endings or sappy twists. The movie is about love, grief, hope and redemption. It is very powerful and very moving.

I ought to say that Maria thought it was  relentlessly and almost punishingly unforgiving and dark, and it’s fair to warn that this is, in many ways, true. It is not grisly or violent in any way, but it  is not a happy holiday,  movie, although I did find it uplifting and honest.

I think it’s about the things we accept in life, and about the nature of life itself.

It is also the best movie I have seen in many years. I greatly admire Lonergan for tossing aside the shallow conventions of so many Hollywood movies. This is a real movie about real life and every acting performance is stunning, as is the writing. The movie is already winning piles of awards and is certain to be an Oscar finalist.

I don’t want to give any of it away, unlike Rogue One, the plot actually does matter. I would very highly recommend it. I think it was neat to see these two very different movies back-to-back.  Sunday, off to the hot new movie musical La-La-Land, I am already in love with the trailers.

I love this poem by Hafiz, “Freedom From The Shackle?

It has always spoken to me about creativity, about  the need to take the shackles off, to reach out with our hearts and souls and ideas and take the leap and offer them to the world. Freedom from the shackles – of loves, of art, of dreams – is, I believe, the root of all desire.

What moves us in that direction? What hope do we expect to fulfill? I stand with the dreamers, they are the ones who make sense of the world and who free our better angels.

At some point, creativity asks us to open up, make the leap of faith, take the risk of baring our true selves and souls to the world.

This is the first poem I have  read with my new audio program, I hope to do it from time to time, and I appreciate the many good words and responses to this idea. I love my blog, it is my creative wellspring and laboratory and has given me freedom from the shackle.

So thanks to Hafiz, I am enjoying this new audio dimension to my work. Tomorrow, I’ll try a free-form essay, right out of my head.

Maria said she was hoping to take it easy this week, to go slow, but she is no better at this than I am. She has been holed up in her studio all morning, and I asked if I could go in and see what she is doing – I am always surprised by her work, and she said yes. I was entranced to see the outline of a new wall hanging, a goddess and a snake, and an outline of what looks like our kitchen, although I’m not yet sure.

She doesn’t talk about her pieces until they are done, you know artists. Writers never stop talking about their pieces until and after they are done. I thought this was striking and Maria said I could take a photo of it. You can follow it on her blog, it is not yet for sale.

There is an old saying that the eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

Psychologists call human beings cognitive misers, we are naturally inclined to closed minds, to fixed perceptions of the world. Just look at our political system, a great vast human monument to closed minds, the left and the right locked in eternal arguments that solve nothing.

Yesterday, a friend sent me a message, wishing me a Happy New Year for 2017, a year, she promised, that would be catastrophic. I presumed she was referring to the election of Donald Trump. I didn’t ask or answer her, politics is a personal thing for me, not a license to argue or hate or  persuade other people.

I don’t want to spend my life in argument.

For me, the idea of the open mind is precious and very  important, both spiritually and intellectually (and politically). A closed mind is the first death, in my mind, the death of the mind.

An open mind is defined as a mind receptive to different opinions and ideas. It is, I believe, a rare thing.

In almost every judicial proceeding, judges caution juries to keep an open mind, because they know as well as anyone that most minds are closed. All month, I have been counseling friends, in person and also in my writing, to keep an open mind. I’m not sure they can.

All month I see and hear the din of minds snapping shut. The people who hate this one, the people who hate that one. The minds that never change.

For me, an election is an opportunity for me to hear and consider different points of view, to think about the world in different ways, to learn what other people are thinking. For others, a chance to close one’s mind and keep locked. I suppose I am a freak.

I think I began working for an open mind when I was very young. I was surrounded by closed minds that never changed.

I did not wish to be like that. I hope I am not like that.

Some people disagree with my thinking about an open mind. They believe it is a rationalization for evil, a weakness, an enabling of danger and cruelty. I feel differently about an open mind. I was upset about the election, and I said so.The election was a fact, a disappointment for me.

But I have always believed in the power of the open mind. To communicate. To learn. To connect. To resolve. To grow and change. What is the point of having a mind if it can’t ever open.

It is not natural to have an open mind. It is a struggle, almost always. It is worth it, almost always.

The election was something that I know happened, and it is perfectly fine to be unhappy about it. Or happy.

The future is not something I can see or predict. 2017 will be as good as I make it, it is not in the power of politicians to determine that. I plan to do good work and good deeds and make good love. I can keep an open mind. That would make it an exceptionally good year for me.

There are different ways of looking at everything, even sacred beliefs I have always held. Issues like immigration, the poor, the environment, the government are complex, there are many ways to look at them. I will be doing a lot of thinking listening, next year. I will do a lot of other things too, like helping refugee families, supporting the rights of women, helping the poor.

I can stew and rage and tremble through 2017 or I can open my mind and seek to understand why so many people have such different views than I do, and my friends do.

Is this conflict all because they are evil and bigoted and stupid, and I am good and noble and brilliant? I don’t think so, that would be an awful way for me to think. Closed minds are suffocating, and something I think our civic life is choking to death.

As we approach 2017, I do not feel catastrophe. I have no idea.

I think it will be a challenging year, sometimes frustrating, sometimes disturbing, sometimes rewarding beyond imagination. I will be called upon to define my self and see the world differently.

Isaac Asimov said that our assumptions are our windows on the world.  Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light will never come in.

All men and women dream, although they dream in different ways. Those who dream at night wake up in the day to a different reality. The dreamers of the day are dangerous, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make them come true.

I dream in the day, with my fingers, at my keyboard, in my office. I am comfortable disagreeing with the thoughts and opinions expressed by other people. People disagree with me all the time and are eager to tell me so. But I do not have the right to deny the merit or common sense that others might offer, or to accuse other people of ignorance and bigotry because i don’t like what they are saying.

Everyone is brilliant in one way or another, everyone is ignorant in one way or another. Whenever I see a different opinion, I stop and assume that the other opinion is correct, and that I am wrong. I work my way back and forth, one way or the other. Sometimes I change my mind, mostly I don’t. Sometimes I change my thoughts slightly, sometimes I end up in the middle.

Standing in the shoes of another is a profound spiritual experience. Sometimes the light comes in. An open mind is hope.

That is the pathway to an open mind, to the light, without which truth is lost.

Biddy seems to have volunteered to be my portrait sheep, and that’s find with me, as she has a wonderful and distinctive face. She is quite regal and unflappable. She loves my camera, and looks me straight in the eye and stands to pose for it. At first, I thought she wanted to eat it, but now I see she just loves having her picture taken. One of those strong woman, I welcome her into my continuous gallery of wonderful faces.