There’s no better screenwriter of your life story than you, especially in the messiness of midlife. While it may be hard to believe, you understand what brought you to this place in life better than anyone else. You may have been hurt along the way, but, deep down, you know your wounds contain your wisdom. Just find the common thread and show how one action leads to the next.
Most importantly, the common ingredient in all good storytelling is a love of the story and the characters. And, hopefully, by the time you mature into midlife, you’ve fallen in love with your story – and the characters in it, including yourself. Or at least, you’ve gained a familiarity with their foibles and missteps that doesn’t breed contempt, but instead, compassion.
I wish we had more empathetic artists like our MEA alum Adrian Juric who captures our alums’ stories in a format that is intimate and spare, exquisitely capturing the soul of his subjects. I wish all humans could find their Adrian to capture the artistic story that allows us to see the throughline of our life (if you want to connect with Adrian to find out if he’s coming to your metro area to capture this deep portraits in person, feel free to email him at [email protected] (here’s more info on his process and here’s a two-minute video Adrian did with me in 2018).
I’m the fortunate recipient of a 25-minute video story of my life directed by “The Thread” that captures the magnificent and painful morsels of my life in a way that no one has ever captured me. Hope you enjoy it.
-Chip
P.S. For those feeling dismayed and disgruntled by the election results, here’s a poem from Denise Levertov called “Talking to Grief”
Ah, Grief, I should not treat you
like a homeless dog
who comes to the back door
for a crust, for a meatless bone.
I should trust you.
I should coax you
into the house and give you
your own corner,
a worn mat to lie on,
your own water dish.
You think I don’t know you’ve been living
under my porch.
You long for your real place to be readied
before winter comes. You need
your name,
your collar and tag. You need
the right to warn off intruders,
to consider
my house your own
and me your person
and yourself
my own dog.