Thursday, March 27, 2014

BRING IT ON


How The Light Gets In’ has taken on a life of it’s own: it’s off travelling to destinations that I have only ever dreamed of. Next week it will screen in Reykjavic and Nyheimar in Iceland. If only I could tag along with my screen effigy… 

I have been reflecting on the wide appeal of the film, which frankly, has surprised me. Not to detract from the handling of the film by its makers which was a magnificent thing, but the story itself is only my little one.

Could it be that in moving through life we are surprised by how hard it can be. The idea that joy can fill the cracks left by sorrow is such a heartening one. ‘This too shall pass’ is a motto that should be tattooed behind our eyelids, as we do tend to forget this in times of grief.

The upside of a life filled with experiences wide and deep is that you, by your emotional exposure, become more you. I can’t think of a way to say this without sounding corny… but listening to an interview yesterday, I heard the words I covet from Andrea Molino, composer and conductor from Turin.

Interviewer: Where did the person that you are now come from? How did all of this start to happen?

Molino: I love using the word necessity - which is something completely intuitive, completely emotional… so I don’t have a rational explanation for that. All what I do comes from the feeling that… after a number of experiences; of reading books, meeting people, reflecting, having experiences… that I ‘need’ to do this.

Interviewer: Have you had disasters in your life?

Molino: Oh yes, of course. My feeling is that the amount of joy you are allowed to feel is also related to the amount of pain that you experience in your life… and I am not afraid of pain… not at all.

Interviewer: Aren’t you?

Molino: No, I am not.

I have transcribed this as best I can – Molino’s words have such a resonance for me. They help me to further recognise how my ‘need’ to create allows me to find gifts in life’s darker moments. His final line (imagine Italian accent) was delivered with defiance and daring… it gave me the impression that had he been American, he might have said ‘Bring it on!’

I hasten to add that Molino went on to request a piece of music: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – otherwise known in part as ‘Ode to Joy’.


So give me all you've got life – Bring it on!