Come Fly Away

Day 59

“Cinema is a language. It can say things – big, abstract things. And I love that about it. I’m not always good with words. Some people are poets and have a beautiful way of saying things with words. But cinema is its own language. And with it you can say so many things, because you’ve got time and sequences. You’ve got dialogue. You’ve got music. You’ve got sound effects. You have so many tools. And you can express a feeling and a thought that can’t be conveyed any other way. It’s a magical medium. For me, it’s so beautiful to think about these pictures and sounds flowing together in time and in sequence, making something that can be done only through cinema. It’s not just words or music – it’s a whole range of elements coming together and making something that didn’t exist before. It’s telling stories. It’s devising a world, an experience, that people cannot have unless they see that film. When I catch an idea for a film, I fall in love with the way cinema can express it. I like a story that holds abstractions, and that’s what cinema can do.”

– David Lynch

It’s Oscars night, time for the stars of Hollywood to sparkle on the red carpet. I’m excited! I love the movies, they give us a chance to escape into a world of fantasy; to imagine ourselves in far away places; to experience exciting adventures; and to tune out the daily grind for a few hours.

Movies are an accessible form of artistic expression and I believe they help us get in touch with our own creativity. I’m amazed at the awesome talent of Hollywood’s best and brightest to be able to make the viewer believe in the truth of a character, to become the character. When a story comes to life on the big screen, it allows us to be swept away into our own fantasy worlds, and feel like we can make our dreams come true like our heroes on screen. That’s when real magic in our lives happens – when we enter our dream, when we feel like we already are that which we desire to be.

Not only does the Silver Screen give us an avenue to visualize our own dreams, but it also gives a voice to social causes, and brings the real life stories of amazing people who do extraordinary things to our attention, giving us hope and making us believe that we too, can accomplish anything we want to achieve.

I was inspired to take up a cause with Erin Brockovich, and blown away by Meryl Streep’s sheer talent in Sophie’s Choice, but then, when is there ever a time that Meryl’s performance isn’t stellar? I’m a fan. I was moved by the tenacity of the human spirit in Cast Away, uplifted and humbled by the strength of character in The Shawshank Redemption, and shocked and outraged by the discoveries in Spotlight. My imagination took flight in Star Wars, and I was filled with hope by the goodness of the human spirit while watching Tom Hanks’ righteous character in Bridge of Spies. I fell in love with E.T., laughed with Matthew Broderick’s character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and was saddened by the real life experiences of Philomena. I felt the full range of emotion in Slumdog Millionaire, and was ready to seize the day in Dead Poets Society. I was enchanted by Cinderella, and A Walk To Remember brought me to tears. I could relate to Julia Robert’s character in Pretty Woman who wanted to be loved just the way she was. Like Water for Chocolate left me spellbound, and Rocky made me believe that no matter who you are, or where you come from, you can be, do or have anything you want.

I could go on. Suffice it to say, movies help us expand our own imaginations and explore a world full of magic, wonder and brilliance. I am so grateful.

Thank you Hollywood, for enriching our lives and showing us that we can transcend the limitations we impose on ourselves, and for helping us to believe that we can reach the heights we are truly capable of soaring to.

Are you inspired to take flight? I am.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!