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Gift
In this cold commodity culture
Where you lay your money down
It's hard to even notice
That all this earth is hallowed ground . . .
The art keeps moving
Never know where it is going to land
You must stand back and let it
Keep on changing hands.
— "The Gift" by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn
This song and this extraordinary documentary are both based on Lewis Hyde's seminal 1983 book The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World. It is a tribute to "the artist's labor in service of his gifts." Whereas most of us live in a world where market values prevail and commodities are all important, artists are animated by different values since they serve the life of the imagination. Hyde clarifies what that means in the introduction to the book:
"Certain spheres of life, which we care about, are not well organized by the marketplace. That includes artistic practice … also pure science, spiritual life, healing, and teaching. This book is about the alternative economy of artistic practice. For most artists, the actual working life of art does not fit well into a market economy, and this book explains why and builds out on the alternative, which is to imagine the commerce of art to be well described by gift exchange."
As you watch this rounded, imaginative, and diverse documentary directed by Robin McKenna, you may want to keep these other thoughts by Lewis Hyde in The Gift in mind:
INVOCATION
"An essential portion of any artist's labor is not creation so much as invocation. Part of the work cannot be made, it must be received; and we cannot have this gift except perhaps, by supplication, by courting, by creating within ourselves that 'begging bowl' to which the gift is drawn."
DONATION
"A gift that cannot be given away ceases to be a gift. The spirit of a gift is kept alive by its constant donation."
BEING MOVED
"We are only alive to the degree that we can let ourselves be moved."
GRATITUDE
"When we are moved by art we are grateful that the artist lived, grateful that he labored in the service of his gifts."
MYSTERY
"The passage into mystery always refreshes. If, when we work, we can look once a day upon the face of mystery, then our labor satisfies. We are lightened when our gifts rise from pools we cannot fathom. Then we know they are not a solitary egotism and they are inexhaustible."
Director Robin McKenna has taken on the immense challenge of translating Hyde's ideas into touching, universal, and global stories about the creative process, generosity, and sharing. Or as she has puts it in interviews, the documentary is "a remix of his book for the 21st century."
In Alert Bay, BC, McKenna spends time with Marcus Alfred, a young artist who is carving masks and planning his first potlatch in his indigenous community where tradition is held in high esteem. Instead of following the ideal which holds sway in capitalist and consumer culture where leaders are usually the ones with the most money, the spiritual practice in the potlatch is giving all you have away. Marcus says: "The more you can give, the bigger chief you are." Giving keeps the people together.
As we watched this flow of giving and generosity, we tried to imagine what would happen in all American communities if the most respected people were those who gave the most away.
The ideal of the "gift economy" plays an important role in the Burning Man gatherings which combine camping out the Nevada Desert, immersion in community, and striving to create new forms of art. In the documentary, we watch a young woman make a large mobile bee vehicle that she can use to move around the camp as she gives away her honey.
As we saw all the examples of the gift economy at Burning Man, we found ourselves hoping that it could happen in more than temporary spaces.
Another place where people are gathering together and forming new tribes of creativity is an abandoned factory in Rome where 200 migrants and workers are living. Artists from the community have turned this squatters camp into a museum called "Metropoliz." The people living there are protected from having their home destroyed by builders, and artists have a place to showcase their creations in the spirit of gratitude and joy. One wall painted by important artists not only brings value to the wall; it acts as a "Barricade of Art," a defense. One of the museum organizers explains that they are using the value of art to counter the value of real estate.
As we watched the residents' children playing among the art installations, we wondered how our creative capacities might have been nurtured by exposure to these gifts of art at a young age.
In several places in Hyde's book, he talks about being "moved by art." Artist Lee Mingwei brings singers into a museum and encourages them to approach a stranger and offer them a "gift of song." The giftee is seated before the performer who then shares a piece of music.
As we witnessed the transformative power of this gift, our eyes filled with tears. This kind of art cannot be measured or counted; it is priceless. It travels from heart to heart and keeps on moving.
A documentary showing how art keeps moving in circles of sharing, giving, and generosity.
Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel!
Bat has lost his home and is looking for another place to live. It is not easy given the nasty things other animals think about bats. When he finally finds a cozy place to rest, it turns out to be the residence of a squirrel. He goes to sleep hanging from a twig.
When Squirrel wakes up in the morning and finds this uninvited stranger in his home, he writes a note saying: "Dear Bat, Bug off! Sincerely, Squirrel." But his note is not read the way it was intended.
Is it within the realm of possibility that a nighttime and a daytime creature could become friends? Yes, when kindness, courtesy, and playfulness are present. Not to mention lots of communication between them.
Paul Meisel is a seasoned writer who has illustrated more than 70 children's books, many of which he also wrote like this one. Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel is a timely book which beautifully illustrates the good things that can take place when strangers open up to each other, rather than fear, hate, or mistrust those outside their small circle of family and friends. Or as Benedictine sister Joan Chittister puts it: "Hospitality is the way we turn a prejudiced world around one heart at a time."
A timely book which shows the good things that can happen when strangers open to each other.
Life's Passwords
Many words and sayings stay with us as we go through life. I call them "passwords." When I run into difficulties I recall words that help me deal with whatever is before me. A whole book may be a password if it teaches me how to handle something the author has already overcome.
Sometimes it is one word that when repeated, like a mantra, sustains me. Or it may be an Internet password that leads me to helpful information. We all need to find the passwords that get us through, just as a passport gets us through customs when entering a different country.
My favorite passwords are love, laughter, faith, prayer, and miracle. I use miracle more than any other because it keeps me open and expecting the positive aspects of life. For me, it's a reminder of what Dr. Carl Simonton said: "In the face of uncertainty there is nothing wrong with hope."
Solution of the Day: Pass your words of hope on to others.
Sharing words of hope with others.
Deepak Chopra, Peace Is the Way
The program for peace asks you to become a peacemaker by following a specific practice every day, each centered on the theme of making peace real, one step at a time, in your personal life.
Sunday: Being for Peace
Monday: Thinking for Peace
Tuesday: Feeling for Peace
Wednesday: Speaking for Peace
Thursday: Acting for Peace
Friday: Creating for Peace
Saturday: Sharing for Peace
Each practice takes only a few minutes. You can be as private or outspoken as you wish. But those around you will know that you work for peace by the way you conduct your life on a daily basis.
The program for peace
The Artist's Joy
“The hardest part for creatives when naming and examining the generalized other is that when we share our work, we get feedback and messages from all kinds of people all the time. They unabashedly praise or constructively criticize or verbally attack our art, which, good or bad, feels personal. From trusted mentors and friends to faceless internet trolls, it can be hard to differentiate ourselves from what we create and how we perceive others’ reactions to it.
“We are put in positions to receive feedback from people we do not know at all (like a competition panel) or from someone we do know and certainly do not respect or admire, like the toxic teacher who holds the key to your future as an artist or performer.
“If the abuse or shaming is something you believe is required of you in the name of being a great artist, please know — that is a lie. Do not give this person power over you for one more minute. It is possible to hone your selective hearing for critical feedback, to distill the words down to something helpful, and to leave the rest. That starts with the difficult work of naming a supportive, helpful, loving Everybody for yourself.”
The feedback loop.
Ardath Rodale, Everyday Miracles
Look at the potential for each one of us to create, to interpret, to appreciate, to share, to influence positive change in the world. Let your mind be inspired, your body stretched with energy, and your spirit touched with love.
You are not ordinary, you are extraordinary. Listen to and play the music of your life, and your miracles will begin.
You are not ordinary, you are extraordinary
Peace Is an Offering
Annette LeBox is a poet, a naturalist, and author of Circle of Cranes. In this heartfelt poem about living in peace in everyday life, she focuses on a community of children who cherish and look after each other. The little ones in these stories convey peace as an offering, holding on to another, the words you say to a brother, and more places and activities. "Peace is a joining, not a pulling apart. It's the courage to bear a wounded heart." The simple but elegant illustrations of Stephanie Graegin nicely complement the text.
Years ago, singer/songwriter John Lennon expressed the hopes of many with his lyrics "All we are saying is give peace a chance." For far too long, children have been taught by politicians and the media that war is the best way to secure and insure peace. Now we know that peace comes alive when people love and respect each other; act with compassion and kindness; and do all they can to bring people together. Being peace in these times is the best way to create a future where all can shine together.
Definitions and signs of peace identified by children.
In Time
The best science fiction always uses some trend or policy of the present as a foundation and projects it into the future with a picture of some possible results. Through this glimpse of tomorrow, we can ponder anew the spiritual or philosophical ramifications of what we are doing today. In The Adjustment Bureau, we were given a chance to assess the idea of free will or the alternative of following a plan mapped out by God. In Gattaca the idea of genetically engineered perfection is explored. Writer and director Andrew Niccol who wrote and directed the latter thriller is also at the helm of this thought-provoking sci-fi drama that has many resonances with today's world.
The Preeminence of Time
A search on Google for "time" yields more than 11 billion hits whereas there are fewer than 3 billion hits for "money" and 241 million hits for "sex." Time is very much on our minds and at the hub of our concerns. We speak of "having" and "saving" and "wasting" time but we never seem to find a way of "conquering" it. We are caught up in the obsessive-compulsive need to make the most of the time we have each day. Pagers and cell phones are taken everywhere. We don't want to miss a moment of connection.
In Time is set in a future dystopia where living zones separate the rich from the poor. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) lives in a ghetto zone with his mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde). She looks very young since all aging stops at 25.
Will works in a factory and she has a job as well, but still it is hard to make ends meet. Time in this society is literally money. Each person has a timer on his or her arm and at 25 you are given one year of free time after which you die — unless you can find a way to get more time. Wages are doled out in days of added longevity. All expenses (rent, a cup of coffee, clothes, phone calls) are paid for with time and scanners are used to deduct the time for the purchase. The biggest fear in the ghetto is that your time will run out unexpectedly. That is exactly what happens to Will's mother.
Time Is Strange
"Time is stranger and deeper than anything else in our lives."
— Jacob Needleman
The biggest dream in the ghetto is acquiring a surplus of years and the prospect of immortality. When Will saves a young man with a century on his clock, the fellow gives the years to him and then commits suicide. An intrepid "Timekeeper," Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), is convinced that Will stole the years from the dead man. He launches a man hunt for him. Also hot on Will's trail are some nasty time thieves.
Caught in Time
"Time is the element in which we exist. We are either borne along with it or drowned in it."
— Joyce Carol Oates
Will begins a daring journey into the zone for the time rich called New Greenwich. After winning more than a millennium at a casino, he meets Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter of Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser), an immensely wealthy and powerful banker who has been exploiting the poor by making high interest time loans. A believer in "Darwinian capitalism," he's stored up enough years to be immortal. But Sylvia thinks there must be more to life than the favored existence she knows. She is intrigued by Will's wild ideas about changing the system which favors the rich over the poor and allows many to die so a few can be immortal. After he takes her hostage when the Timekeeper is closing in on him, Sylvia doesn't take very long to pledge her allegiance to what becomes their own mutual crusade. They begin robbing time banks and giving time to the poor and the down-and-out.
In Time is a winning sci-fi thriller that taps into some of the troubling problems of our era, such as the view of time as money, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and all the ways that we waste time and fail to value every moment. It is also a meditation on the healing and restorative medicine of generosity and sharing. Writer and director Niccol has given us a cautionary tale about the possible future consequences of class consciousness, the high cost of trying to stay young or live forever, and the need for something more meaningful than just spending time to get ahead of the game.
A thought-provoking sci-fi thriller set in the future that taps into some of the most troubling inequities and problems of our era, the lack of time.
Joseph and the Sabbath Fish
Joseph is a devout Jew who lives in Tiberias, a city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He loves the Sabbath and invites strangers and even beggars to his home. His neighbor Judah asks him why he wastes money feeding poor people. "Everyone is important," says Joseph. "Those who come to my table are honoring me, and together we honor the Sabbath. What we give to the Sabbath is repaid a thousandfold."
In this teaching story for children 5 and up, writer Eric Kimmel has fashioned a tender-hearted, generous, and compassionate hero who is subjected to some hard times. But God is there to carry him through and the Sabbath is his lifeline offering him peace and contentment. His neighbor and friend Judah suffers the loss of his wealth and his views on what really matters in life are changed drastically.
Children need more spiritual heroes nowadays, and Joseph is certainly one worth emulating. He exemplifies the ethical foundations of Judaism with his reverence of the Sabbath and his open-hearted spiritual practices of kindness and hospitality.
An invigorating teaching story about a Sabbath-loving Jew and his spiritual practices of kindness and hospitality.
Say Hello, Lily
Lily is a shy little girl who decides to accompany her mother who does volunteer work at Shalom House, a place for older people who need help. Their neighbor, Mrs. Rosenbaum who had an art studio in her house, now has an apartment at Shalom House. Lily remembers her well — especially a painting of a vase with orange lilies in it.
When seniors crowd around Lily and her mother in the lobby of Shalom House, Lily feels her heart beat faster and her face turns red. But she manages to bear up under the strain of so many compliments and comments about her shiny shoes. The next week, Lily joins her mother at Shalom House where an exercise class is in session. And yet another week, she is pleased to join the festivities for residents with May birthdays. When Lily returns home, she plans her own surprise celebration for the residents of Shalom House. Thanks to her kindness, she is rewarded with a gift from Mrs. Rosenbaum which makes her heart turn over in a somersault!
Say Hello, Lily is written by Deborah Lakritz who has a master's degree in social work from the University of Minnesota. She has worked professionally with both pre-schoolers and senior citizens. Perhaps that's why she has been able to create such a wonderful story of cross-generational caring and sharing. The residents of Shalom House are enriched by Lily's sweetness and charm and she, in turn, is emboldened to come out of her shell and become a more socially relaxed person. Martha Avilés is the illustrator and she confesses in her bio that she "admires and honors the souls of the old." That's the spirit that offers an alternative to the obsession of our youth-worshipping culture. Say Hello, Lily is aimed for children ages four through eight.
The story of a shy little Jewish girl's transformation after making friends at Shalom House, a place for older people.