My experiences, thoughts and their expression: mi vida

At the U of Montana, Mr. Brokaw spoke to the graduating 'class'. I have read this talk several times, and it is just so rich in content for me. Here's a sample: “Let me conclude with a small anecdote rooted in Montana that will be with me for the rest of my life. About five years ago at this time of the year, I was at our ranch between Livingston and Big Timber. The water was high in the West Boulder River and I went to an overlook to check its condition. And out of a grove of aspen down below me emerged a small herd of mother elk, accompanied by their three- and four-week-old calves. They paused for a moment on the sandbar and they looked at me 200 yards away and thought I probably posed no great threat. The water was high and swift, the forebank was loaded with hawthorn bushes, very thick. The cow elk led their offspring into the spring to get across to the greener pastures, and all of them made it except one. That poor calf couldn't get through the hawthorn bushes...

Came across this reading today...again. I had come across it before, months ago, and wanted to use it for the book club of our neighborhood, for a Sunday gathering. It came up today as I was filing..."putting away papers". The last lines of the poem read: "People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror." Let's read that again: People of Orphalese,  beauty is life  - when life unveils her holy face.  ... But YOU are life, AND... YOU    are the veil. ... Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.  But  YOU     are eternity...AND, ... you are the Mirror!!!. Time to munch on that for a minute... It's curious: when I was a teenager, you know, at that age in which one spends time looking at oneself in the mirror: the hair, the way the clothes hung, the shirt fo...

Wanted to share the link to the "Press Kit" for the Documentary "I AM", one worth seeing. This link provides a write up of the movie, and the curriculum and photos of those interviewed, and of those that made the work. Neat! Allow me to share a clip from the link: I_AM_Presskit-FINAL.pdf "Shadyac‟s enthusiastic depiction of the brighter side of human nature and reality, itself, is what distinguishes I AM from so many well-intentioned, yet ultimately pessimistic, non-fiction films. And while he does explore what‟s wrong with the world, the film‟s overwhelming emphasis is focused on what we can do to make it better. Watching I AM is ultimately, for many, a transformative experience, yet Shadyac is reluctant to give specific steps for viewers who have been energized by the film. “ What can I do? ” “I get asked that a lot,” he says. “ But the solution begins with a deeper transformation that must occur in each of us. I AM isn‟t as much about what you can do, a...