Why ARE you here? Passion & Purpose - episode 216
There are reasons we are living this life. In addition to the people we love, and the people who love us, we are meant to express ourselves through the passion we have, and then to find a purpose, a way to share it. When you were a kid, what brought you joy? Does it still?
I think of my brother who as a young boy liked to dress up in military uniforms and carry toy weapons. He grew up to be a firefighter and has become an expert in using firearms responsibly. I think it’s telling. As a young girl I was drawn to performances, like getting goosebumps every year when Leslie Ann Warren starred in the movie Cinderella. (That was back when you had to wait a year to see something you really enjoyed.) It is still true today. When I am moved I get goosebumps, sometimes cry, and occasionally weep.
I love the power in performance arts and the joy found in storytelling. We can learn and be inspired by each other. This episode explores passion and purpose: how you might begin to rekindle yours or discover a new one. I’ll be asking four questions for you to ponder. I’ve asked them of myself and insisted I follow through with what I found. May you be encouraged to do the same.
Authentic. Transparent. Vulnerable. I value these - they inform my passion and purpose.
— RCN
When will I get my braces off?!
Movies, I Miss You
Thoughts from Why ARE you here?
As I shared in this episode, I have loved performing arts for as long as I can remember. The first movie I went to was Mary Poppins. I was invited to go with a friend because it was her birthday. We went downtown and it all seemed so grand. The size of the screen, all the chairs, all the people. Shortly thereafter my mom and her then boyfriend took me to see The Sound of Music. I wonder if I thought that Julie Andrews would be in all the movies. Again, big theater, lots of people and this time it was at night. It felt like an event. I think I dressed up for that outing. Would you believe I still have the soundtrack to both albums?
If you know me at all you know that movies have always been a big part of my world. I suspend belief and am transported into that world for the duration. Then chatting about it afterwards, what moved me, what worked, what didn’t, felt like a necessary and enjoyable part of the whole thing. There was a time when I saw at least one movie a week, sometimes two and very occasionally more, especially from November to January when a lot of movies with more gravitas are making their rounds. And I tried to make sure I saw all best picture nominees which usually meant I saw the acting nominations along with best director contenders.
Then something happened. The cell phone was invented. First only a few people had them and then fast forward to today and everyone has one surgically attached to their hands. Now I am not going to dis the benefits of the phone. They are handy, convenient and can do so many things. What I am going to say is that they have ruined the movie-going experience. I can remember the first time I noticed that a cell phone’s light took me out of a movie. I was at a packed showing of The Help and I was way up in one of the last rows. Way down in one of the first rows a woman brought out her phone and the light took me right out of the moment. I was no longer in the south wishing Emma Stone could do more for civil rights, I was distracted and back in my seat at the movie theater. Now for some this might not be a big deal and certainly in the scheme of things it is not but still. After a few moments and her unwillingness to be untethered I walked down all those many rows and kindly said, Would you mind turning your phone off? It’s very distracting. And of course she did. It took me a while to get back into the movie to root Octavia Spencer on.
Closer to home and in my own abode no less, while Ron and I were dating, I had missed Braveheart in the theaters. Something pretty big must have been happening because it wasn’t like me to miss a huge opening like that. Anyway we were watching a DVD and Ron kept asking questions and commenting on what was happening on the screen. Of course when that happens you miss the next line or two. I can recall the veins in my. neck tightening as they ran up into my head. Now it was my bad that I didn’t politely tell him I like to watch movies in silence because I am actually in the movie. I am the camera and if you talk to me I’m not there anymore. Now is there ever an exception to this or am I that uptight? Yes, there is. When you’re at home and you’ve seen a movie a bunch of times then chatting, laughing, making jokes can be fun. FYI Ron totally gets this about me now like I get his quirks.
One of the last times I went to the movies I sat behind someone who was on their phone before the movie started. No problem. The trailers began and he was still on the phone. Do you remember when everyone was quiet for the previews? If you don’t, you are very young. And if you do, you know what I’m talking about. Now people talk through them and continue right on into the movie. Getting back to the guy. Ok, he put it away. The movie’s been going on for about forty minutes or so and he pulls out his phone and starts clicking away. I gently said, Would you mind turning your phone off? It’s very distracting. He said, Oh, I’m just doing some work. People, if you have work to do or you are waiting for the call to receive the important life-saving organ you are waiting for, then maybe stay home or at least go out into the lobby.
It’s a matter of consideration, of manners. It’s thinking about someone else, and not feeling entitled to do what you want, when you want. I’m not sure which came first. Did we get less polite when we all got phones and they became so central to our lives, or when we had so much entertainment at our fingertips that watching something was no longer very special so we could talk through most of it because there was another show coming up right after that one. Maybe abundance breeds apathy, while scarcity breeds appreciation. Not sure. Anyway, Hollywood may want to know why I don’t go to the movies much anymore. It’s no longer the joy it once was.
If we have too much do we lose our ability to appreciate?
— RCN
