It was a light little movie, as frothy as a meringue with lots of sugar and egg. I always enjoy Sam Elliot and Mary Steenburgen in any role, even though she is nearly always typecast as the brassy and independent woman, and he as the laconic cowboy in a uniform or a big hat. I am drawn to character actors. Brian Dennehy and Harry Dean Stanton are two of my all time favorites. I used to like Wilford Brimley before he started doing too many commercials. It's hard to take an actor seriously after he has done the late night supplemental medical insurance commercials. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are too other actors I love in any movie, and Second Hand Lions , which features both of them, along with a young Haley Joel Osment and Kyra Sedgewick, is on my top five stranded-on-a-desert island movies, assuming the island had a battery-operated dvd player.
To me Did You Hear About the Morgans?, underneath the comic pratfalls and the bear spray in the eye, was about the limits of forgiveness and the nature of redemption. It's a subject that's in the news a lot lately. A host of men have gotten exposed in terrible indiscretions, Bruce Springsteen, Jesse James, Tiger Woods among them, and now they have to begin the difficult process of redeeming themselves and rebuilding their lives. For some of them they will have to do it alone. Some wounds can't be healed, and some heels have to suffer wounds for the way they bruised others.
Sara Jessica's Parker's character asks, why? Why her? Why did you cheat on me? He says I'm sorry a half dozen times and sends gifts, but that's the gnawing center of the victimized person's hurt. Why didn't you choose me? Why did you have to ruin what we had and destroy my trust?
Questions like these don't have easy answers. In the movie they dodge a bullet and outrun a bear and everything is all better, and in the end they wind up with an adopted baby in their arms and one of their own on the way. (I haven't spoiled the ending--it's a comedy. The ending was never in doubt.) But real life is a drama with tragic and pathetic undertones. The happy ending is never quite as easily gained.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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This is the Way the Transformation Begins
"Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Robert F. Kennedy
This is the way the transformation begins.
It begins in me.
It begins now.
It begins with small incremental changes and shifts in attitude
it begins with positive action
failing forward
and suddenly I start looking at the world and my place in it in a new way. I speak differently and dress differently and project a different energy, and the world opens up like a glorious pink azalea bush, eight feet tall and blooming like mad.
photo by Kajo123 from the website flickr.com
Good morning!
An engineer builds a bridge and every bolt and weld has to be exactly right; every measure has to be perfect, or the bridge collapses or fails to take its place. Fantastically detailed blueprints have to be laid out. Impact statements have to be filed, sediment has to be studied, years of effort, months of planning, and a man-made marvel rises in the sky. Park somewhere and take a good look at a bridge, and think of all the skill and knowledge and hard honest work it took to create it. Consider how a few thousand years ago we were living in caves.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
The Hawthorne Bridge at sunrise, Portland Oregon. Photo by Joe Collver, from flickr.com
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundance
Make it a daily practice to begin your day with five minutes of thankfulness. You can even do it in your car on the way to work. Do it in your own way, whether it's thoughtful reflection or a prayer or singing out loud, but focus on your rich, amazing, abundant life.
Feeling grumpy or resentful or worried instead of thankful? Change direction! Consider the incredible gifts you have--mind, body, spirit, senses, your family, your friends, your clothes, your car, and the breakfast you enjoyed this morning. By the standards of 99% of the world, Americans are incredibly, amazingly rich. You truly have no idea how richly blessed you are until you start thinking about it. Even the heart that beats within you and the lungs that breathe your air are an intricate and amazing miracle.
Some of my favorite movies are ones that feature a once-defeated character waking up to an absolutely new day: "It's A Wonderful Life," the various versions of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" and "Groundhog Day." How exhilarating it is for George Bailey to wake up and realize his life isn't over, it's just beginning, and that today truly is a brand new day.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
George returns home to everything he ever wanted.
2 comments:
Dad--
Today I'm so sleepy. We had a doctor's appointment this morning, all's well in baby land. I should have taken a nap when E-man did but I was doing soldier family stuff (and half-heartedly) watching my soapy. I only watch the soapy so I can talk about it later with Grammy and Grandpa. Kourty has a dance competition in Seattle next weekend and this weekend Ethan and I have big plans to watch the UFC 112 on pay-per-view. Recording it for Dad. Have I mentioned I need a nap. Looking for a part-time nanny this summer, so this won't be a problem in the future. You've made me decide to watch more movies. I used to all the time but haven't lately. We try to limit Ethan's tv watching and I find myself going to bed earlier and earlier, when I used to stay up and watch movies with Tom. It's no fun to watch Rom-Com's without my hubbybear complaining about having to watch them. He better call soon or he's gonna get it. I sent him a love box and I want to make sure he got it. I think I ate too many cookies today, my tummy hurts. Well we are off to watch the Backyardigans.
Me
Sounds like you're staying busy. I'm sure Tom will call when he can.
Don't eat too many cookies. Try chocolate instead.
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