#riter

De senaste månaderna har ett blogginlägg från april 2016 ofta poppat upp bland dem som ni läser. Av ingångarna till bloggen drar jag slutsatsen att det är folk som googlar på något av nyckelorden som läser.

Det förtjänade att läsas om i ser jag. Vad betyder riter, ritualer och rutiner för mig idag? Och vilka riter, ritualer och rutiner vill jag ha i mitt liv?

Min morgonritual med meditation och…

SEE: Stone — A Film by Ben Proudfoot

Comedian/Actor/Writer/Performer Patton Oswalt posted something odd and sad and something remarkable and wonderful on Facebook. And that sharing has resulted in me discovering one of new most favourite things in the world: the films of Canadian Ben Proudfoot. 

Patton wrote:

I'm going radio silent again. June 1st through September 8th. I've never needed a break from the electron mosh pit of the internet this badly. Yeesh.

That’s the sad part. But I respect Patton for wanting to take a break and concentrate on all of the other things in life that fill his brain and soul. I envy that.

And then there’s this:

While I'm gone, could you guys do something? Check out the films I've linked to below, in Breakwater Studios "Life's Work" series. None of them is longer than ten minutes. All of them are directed by Ben Proudfoot. All of them will make you feel, live, and think better.

I stopped reading there. I don’t know why. I just did. And I went right to Life’s Work.

I watched all the films — and agree that if you are in the right frame of mind (as I am) these short documentaries will change your life — especially “Stone” and “Rust.”

This is beautiful work. Stunning — like “The Ox” and “Ink & Paper.” The music fits perfectly. (Listen to the musical jab as the ladybug takes flight in “Lady Bug.”) But it’s all about the people and the choices they have made. And the choices they make everyday.

From “Stone:”

“I learned a long time ago that its really hard to be normal or what people perceive to be normal. It’s hard enough being me without being what other people think I should be. So the sooner you step off that tightrope, the sooner you just became odd, the sooner the world will accept you as being odd. And there’s great freedom in that.”

“At the end of the day you can prove that you can do it by doing it. Not by saying you have a right to do it. That you should be doing it.”

Wow. 

So I watched them all and I watched “Stone” again. 

And then I started to write this but I went back to Patton’s post:

I've watched them each, at least, six times. Probably closer to ten times when it comes to my favorite, "Stone."

Great minds, right? Patton continues:

The recurring motif of letting the materials decide what shape they'll take, despite the artisan's input. This is especially true of Rust and Stone. And, finally, the near-Nirvanic state of peace and presence on their faces while they work with their materials, and are simply lost in the making of something. I've had fleeting moments of that -- writing a joke, or interacting with an audience, or acting in a scene. And, more and more often, letting my daughter decide where the day is going to take us.

I've never had a moment like that purchasing something, or worrying about my career, or trying to be better than someone else. Which should really tell me something. But I'm human, and I forget.

I didn’t just like these films because Patton liked them and I think that if we were to meet and hang out in really life (whatever the hell that is) we would probably get along famously. I didn’t just like these films because I am a proud Canadian. I didn’t just like these films because I am an ideas-and-creativity-geek and love how enriching and organic everything is when it comes to all of the things that these people do and love. 

No. I love these films because they make me want to be a better me. A more patient husband. A more spontaneous father. And the artist and writer that I know that is inside of me but is often hesitant thanks to the not-so-real voices in my head and the oh-so-real voices of my present and my past.