Parenthood is a series on NBC with an ensemble cast featuring Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Peter Krause and Lauren Graham. The actors do a beautiful job portraying the Braverman family. The elder Bravermans are survivors from the 60's who raised their children in Berkeley, and their grown kids have gone on to become a shoe company executive, a hard-driving corporate lawyer, a sound man, and a bartender who has moved back home with her parents along with her two teenagers after a disastrous relationship in Fresno.
The show is available in OnDemand, and I recommend watching it from the beginning to fully enjoy the multiple developing storylines. What I love about this program is the honesty and genuineness, the complex relationships between the characters, told with humor and heart. There are no pat answers among these passionate people. Things aren't perfect. Life has rough edges and failures, and problems that don't neatly solve themselves in 40 minutes of script. The writing is sharp and the characters are strong, and like in real life the Bravermans have to accept contradictions and small compensations, the moments of beauty and togetherness that redeem everything else. Eight year old Max is in a meltdown panic attack because his pet turtle is lost, until they find him in his grandpa's shoe. Grandpa Braverman is crashing at his eldest son's house, because his wife has kicked him out over his dishonesty and infidelity. Nothing is simple. The hardass elder Braverman says to his son Peter, "You are ten times the father I ever was." His son looks him in the eye, level and calm, with just the right amount of bitterness and forgiveness and says, "No dad, that's not true. Probably five times." They grip each other's shoulders, just shy of a full embrace.
Things aren't neatly wrapped up. There are no pat solutions or quick fixes, and the hurt doesn't just go away. It's poignant and powerful stuff. You have to see it.
All our families are a mix of beauty and clumsy selfishness. We all have our hurts, our regrets, our secret fears. Ideally it's the moments of healing we remember, the celebratory dinners and the times we collapse together in laughter, the stirring memories and pagentry of The Backyard Olympics, the time we traveled 500 miles overnight to be there when we were needed. It doesn't balance things. We just hope it is enough to heal the heart and touch the soul.
Thursday, May 13, 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.
4 comments:
Dad--
So baby updates, we went into labor on Tuesday night right after spending the entire morning trying to get Tom out of Afghanistan on emergency leave. Luckily the contractions, although seriously painful, weren't progressing labor so they were able to give me some medication to slow/stop the contractions. We aren't sure how long the happy yellow pill will last but the good news is we were successful in our bid and he is on his way home. He should be here roughly tomorrow afternoon. Right now we have 15 days but if we're lucky we can get an additional 10 days added on for paternity leave. We're keeping our fingers crossed. I have another doctor's appointment on Monday to check Lizzy's status so hopefully now that Daddy is home she'll still feel like coming out. Things at the house are progressing nicely for her arrival thanks to an amazing friend who hasn't left my side and totally helped me out with the kids and anything else that we needed around here. Anyway I'm still sitting on the couch (I think it might have a permanent implant by now) to avoid upsetting the baby but hopefully this weekend I'll actually get out a little bit because since he's home she can come whenever she wants. I'll keep you posted.
Me
Steff--
Ack! This baby will clearly be as lovably impatient and stubborn as you. It's clear the little princess wants to make a dramatic entrance.
That's incredibly wonderful news that the Army is letting Tom come home for the birth. I had no idea they would do that until you started writing about the possibility. Way different from the old days.
I am glad you are resting and have a good friend to help you. Ethan must be charging down the halls and bubbling with excitement that his baby sister is coming.
I remember when you were born. Your mom started having mild contractions around six, we called the mothers for advice and decided to go to the hospital around 8:30 and you made your grand entrance kicking and screaming and wailing by 9:07. You were in a hurry to start shopping. I held you all day and got in trouble for walking you down the hall. I rocked you in your Dairy Farmers of Oregon baby blanket and sang "Sweet Baby James" and "The Pony Man." I thought you were beautiful and a joy to behold. I still do, even though you have grown up terribly opininated and contenious with hideous taste in college football teams.
Take care and be healthy. Tell Lizzie I have a song to sing to her.
Love,
Dad
Dad--
First of all my taste in teams is totally fabulous you're just wrong (I mean seriously you should be used to it by now hahahahhaa) I can't believe that you remember what time I was born! I know but only cuz I like wishing myself happy b-day at the exact right time every year. I love my blankie, and I totally still have it. No baby yet still but she's thinking hard about it (neat for her not so much for me!). I'll let you know tomorrow after the appointment.
Me
9:07 June 1st. With Lizzie's flair for the dramatic, she just might be planning that exact moment to hatch. I can't wait to hum the Duck fight song in your honor.
Love,
Dad
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