Keeping the Dream's Alive

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I was DD1's guest last night at the first screening of a low, low budget, lots of free labor feature film. This is the film she worked on weekends and a few week days for several months when she got home from grad school and before her brief stint in Los Angelos two years ago. I can't share the title, nor the story but can say it was a highly personal script by the young woman who was writer, director, producer, and lead actress in the movie. I wanted to really like it. From talking with DD, this woman put her heart and soul in it. But I just didn't. I could try to ignore the incredibly poor acting of some of the characters, and the woodenness of the story. Think bad community theater on screen. It was obvious that it was a personal experience, but because of that, there was no back stories at all, so the context was not there for the interactions between characters.The scenes dragged out to what was going to be the already known ending, but with no climax or resolution to bring in the viewer to the experience. 

I said nothing until DD spoke first on our way home. She said it turned out pretty much as she was expecting, but she was very proud that her new at that time friend, took it to completion. She considered it a good experience in which she met some contacts for future collaboration and new friendships. Despite this being something that might get shown perhaps at a handful of lesser known film festivals, I too have to give her so much credit for not only completing the project, but putting her work out for others to watch, review, and pick apart. If I approach my response from a teacher perspective.I see this was her first experience, nothing to lose and all to gain in growth and improvement. What she can learn for next time is immense, and not something that can be formally taught in film school. Surely she will see where opportunities to bring the audience into the story by putting some back ground before a scene is somethig for her next project. She'll learn that even with a tight budget, or no budget in this case, for actors, there still needs to be alignment with what the characters say, how they say it, and the scene which the dialogue is set. Without doing the project, how would she know that? There were things that really did work-she will see them from the audience eyes, build her style, and incorporate more of those elements. I feel fortunate that DD invited me, and it was a thrill to see my daughters name roll at the end on the big screen in the credits.

My kids and I have been trying to urge DH to get back to painting again or to continue to build on his photography. He has talent in both areas, but lets life intervene on something he used to enjoy immensely. We see little sparks and hope if not now, by the time DD2 is out of the house, or even driving, he sees the opportunity to take up his own visually artistic dreams again. I found a large black picture frame at 70% clearance at Target. I gave it to him to use as the thinks about which photo from the Alaska trip he might want to have enlarged inot a print for the frame. He seemed excited to look through the pctures again, with an artisits eye, to what would best capture his Alaska expereince. 

Dream's need champions. My friend L and her husband have been married for 27 years, together for 30. Throughout their marriage, he has invested considerable time and money pursuing a life as a professional musician. Often holding day jobs, full or multiple part time, to keep enough money coming in to support their family, ((L works full time and has always had the better paying jobs)  he has always had L's full support. In the last year, he is back to music 100%, and the years of investment are paying off. He is in a local band that is picking up Midwest attention,. Granted, he is two decades or more older than some of his band mates, but ow that they are empty nesters, his new success is coming at a good time in his and L's life. While she supports him, he's been a rock of support for her in elder care issues, and her new passion for leading cancer research "walk teams", playing at and helping her host fundraisers.They are one of the most loving examples of a partnerhsip marriage I have ever witnessed. 

To a certain extent, bloggers are keeping our own dreams alive as well. We put our lives, our recipes, our vacations, our budgets out for the world to see. Sometimes critics get nasty, and feel like they not only get to comment on the subject of the post, but tear apart  the bloggers opinions or perspective. Yet still, I've seen the writer bounce back, keep writing, perhaps change their slant a bit, but not allow the critics to stop them find something they enjoy. My hope for my kids is that they continue to invest in what fuels their dreams. If that becomes a viable career, terrific, but if not, i want them to carve out a meaningful slice of their life to keep it going. I've shelved my dreams for too long, and it is hard getting the down and dusting them off and putting them back in action, but I'm trying. With that, I'm off to grab my camera and get out there to find something to write about. What do you know, the sun just came out to guide me.

Small Town Living

I had always thought growing up that my home town was small.My kids thought the same thing.  It had a population of about 18,000 when I was young, and is at 22,000 now. We are also a stones throw from either St Paul or Minneapolis. While I never felt a huge need to move "bigger", my kids were adamant that small town living was not for them.I remember the endless cries about how  boring the town was and that there was nothing to do . Both picked the exotic metropolis of Milwaukee to move away to go to college.  DS is now in the Los Angelos area and seems to like  it.  DD# 1, sowed some oats in London, a city so unlike our hometown, and then also got the LA bug for about 5 minutes.  Interestingly though, after her three month road gig where she saw a pretty significant number of the big cities in the United States, she ended up taking what was going to be a summer job in a small town in Greater Wisconsin teaching film and photography.  She is 90 minutes from any  community more than 20,000 people.  Well my big city girl decided to make this her home for a while and accepted a full time permanent position. No more life on the road, no more big city living.   

I had the enjoyment of spending the day with her, getting a start on moving into a new to her duplex, after spending the summer in makeshift housing used for intern and short term staff. It was a good two hour drive to reach her. Living in Minnesota my whole life, with Wisconsin next door, this was a part of the  state I had never really been before. Her new employer has several locations, and she will have days at to different ones, the first being in the small town she has been living in, and the other 20 miles up the road to where she is moving to.  There is also another little town in between the two. When I say no more city living, I really mean no more city living. None of the three have  a population over 1200 people.  Each are loaded with churches, bars, and thrift shops.There are no shopping centers, nightclubs, and mass transit. Fortunately, where she will be living has a library within walking distance of her home, and the town that she will pass between has a fitness center, which she has already purchased a membership. There are miles and miles of bike and hiking trails, and the area is surrounded by lakes for kayaking and canoeing, and not too far from the Apostle Islands National Park. It is amazingly beautiful part of the state. Her mind and body will be well nourished. With me commenting on the stark contrast of these small towns compared to where she grew up, she expressed to me how she even thought her hometown seemed big now. 

I am excited for her and this new chapter in her life. Being a young single person in a small community where you know no one other than your coworkers has to feel as foreign as when she moved to another country. I've shared how proud I am of my kids, and their willingness to pursue their passions and buck a more traditional path.  This is even nontraditional for herself, though her schedule will allow her the time to pursue her own art. She has odds and end furniture to get moved up there still-I couldn't take in my car, and will finally purge the rest of her things stored at our house while she was living her earlier adventures. She's finding her dreams now in small town living. 

Stockton Island, Apostle Islands National Park- photo by Alaina Myers