BeautyDialogues

American Beauty Dialogue

I was watching American Beauty last night and found myself once again mesmerized by that perfect scene where the young videographer-next-door shows his new love the "most beautiful thing" he's ever seen... footage of a plastic bag whirling in the wind, dancing with a pile of leaves.

Apparently it was this very image, which he experienced in real life, that inspired Alan Ball to write the screenplay, and Ball's words, Rick telling Janey about shooting the scene, carry the sensation:

"It was one of those days, when it's a minute away from snowing. And there was this electricity in the air. You could almost hear it. And this bag was just ... dancing ... with me. Like a little kid, begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That was the day when I realized that there was this ... entire life ... behind things. And this incredibly benevolent force who wanted me to know that there was no reason to be afraid. Ever.

Sometimes there is so much ... beauty ... in the world. It's like I can't take it. And my heart is just going to cave in."

The sensibility that went on to provide us with five seasons of Six Feet Under (probably one of the most profound treatises on death American popular culture has ever produced) ends his debut film script with an echo of this moment in a voice-over from Janey's dead father Lester, who's just been shot:

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me. But it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me, like rain. And I can't feel anything but gratitude."

I'm struck by the experience Ball describes twice in his film - of expanding with emotion, almost to the point of collapse - juxtaposed with this ephemeral image, which is repeated in the dying father's visual sequence as well.

It's like he's trying to make visible, audible, the sheer, unpredictable, and almost-impossible-to-bear beauty at the very heart of life.

A Question for You

I was playing with Seesmic this morning, and realized I could make a little video for you there. So I used it to ask a question ...

Mary Oliver's Poetry

Las night I went to hear the legendary poet Mary Oliver read. It warmed my heart to see the hall packed for this white-haired woman whose philosophy after all is so simple - kindness and attention to beauty are its main principles.

When asked about her daily practice, Oliver said she wakes every morning to witness (my word) the dawn and give thanks for another day, then she eats breakfast, takes a walk with her dog Percy, and works for 3-4 hours, at which point she is tired. Hers sounds pretty much like a perfect life to me.

Mary Oliver is one of those old-fashioned wordsmiths who doesn't use a computer - she writes her drafts and revises them on a notepad before transcribing the finished work on a series of old typewriters (if they stop working she lets them rest under her chair for a few weeks, when, she says, they are almost always miraculously healed and ready to go again).

From her latest volume, Red Bird, "Invitation":

Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy

and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles

for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,

or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong blunt beaks
drink the air

as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine

and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude–
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world.
I beg of you,

do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.

The red bird motif runs through this sweet book of love like a red thread of inspiration, ending finally with the poem Red Bird Explains Himself.

Be the Change

I get occasional mail from KarmaTube sharing inspirational videos, and this one was so good I wanted to share it with you here on the Beauty Dialogues. It's 2 minutes of pure 'Yes We Can", set in a traffic jam in India.

Be the Change! Do that seemingly small thing, and see what happens...

Kite Runner

I saw a remarkable film the other day: The Kite Runner (I have the book, but had not yet read it). Watching this film was one of those experiences that moved me in ways and for reasons that I almost can't discern or describe. Parts of it were extremely painful to watch, and yet it felt like a necessary pain, the kind of unavoidable pain that is part of being human.

Vanessa

Remember Vanessa German, the amazing woman I met at the StoryField conference? Well, I'm not the only person who thinks she's amazing... She was invited to present at this year's PopTech conference, and here is a video capture of her performing the magnificent "If My Hands Were Anything Other Than Hands".

Creator of the Universe

"For the world is not painted or adorned, but it is from the beginning beautiful; and God has not made some beautiful things, but Beauty is the creator of the universe." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ode to Light

If you were reading the Beauty Dialogues last year, you might remember I have a ‘thing’ for the lights of this season, and as the cycle returns I find the love affair has lost one of its brilliance.

Every night I turn on the LED lights that frame my front window and sit happily looking at my twinkling, forest-smelling tree. I faithfully lit the Hanukkah candles each night for the ritual 8 nights even though my mother isn’t Jewish and I don’t know the music or words for the proper prayers.

As deeply as I enjoy these personal pleasures of lucidity, something new dawned on me the other day during walk at dusk. I was looking at all the glittering trees and strings of light in my neighbors’ windows and suddenly it stuck me as very profound that we decorate the OUTSIDES of our houses, and place our trees in the window so that others can enjoy them.

On one level, I thought, perhaps these lights are a way to signal and inspire each other with our knowing that the light will return, a collective celebration of gratitude for the beauty and power of light.

Elements of Persuasion

My friend Max, aka Richard Maxwell, co-author of The Elements of Persuasion, has just blogged one of the best 'testimonials' I have ever received about my work. His appreciation was in response to some design support I'd given him and his co-author Bobby, aka Robert Dickman, which I gave because I think the work they're doing is a gift to humanity.

This elegant little tome is one of those works that gets to the archetypal roots of what it is to be a human being. You have to get past the marketing speak of their publisher's PR, but this book, which is ostensibly about how to tell your story persuasively in the business world, is really about the elemental qualities of life; what makes us tick, what motivates us and makes us rise to our highest good, and most importantly how to evoke that in ourselves and others consciously through the stories we tell. Thank YOU, Max & Bobby!

Beach Walks

Video blogger Roxi Darling has her own version of Beauty Walks... "Beach Walks with Rox: A Little Aloha Every Day!" She ruminates about all sorts of subjects while walking along the beach in Kailua playing with her dog Lexi. 'Secret Cameraman' Shane Robinson is there to video her, and together they broadcast the results online.

They've been doing the Beach Walks for years now, so there are some fabulous archives. I love this one, about the importance of physical exercise for brain function: