The Man Behind The Curtain: March

 So, we made it almost a fourth of the way through the year. So, time for a check in. How are you doing? Still feeling good? Think that you have gotten most of goals hit or continuing so far? I am much farther on some goals and far behind in others. I guess that is why they say success is not measured in a straight line. We have to be flexible.

That means in all areas of our lives, including our emotions. 

 Riley is a preteen living in Wisconsin having a ball in her life, or should I say puck? She loves her hockey team, family, friends, school, and everything really seems perfect. That is until her parents and her move to San Francisco due to her dad's job. 

Now, there is something everyone needs to know, our emotion have control of our mind and they are little being that are used to influence Riley and the world around her by how she feels. They are Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness. They work together to use the appropriate emotion for what is going on. 

The leader of this group, Joy, thinks that Riley needs to be happy all of the time. That whenever she is not happy that not only is she not doing her job right, but she will do everything in her life to make her happy. All of the core memories that Riley has, the stuff that makes her her, are all happy memories. However, everything that Joy knows changes when a sad core memory enters into system. Joy does everything she can to stop the memory becoming a core one, and ends up being forced out of the control room with sadness. They have to go on adventure, literally down memory lane, to get back to the control room before everything falls apart. 

So, in reality, we know that our emotions are not controlled by little beings in our head. However, I do know that our emotions are things that we can and can not choose. 

Sometimes and emotion comes so fast that you can't control it and we just have to feel it no matter what is happening. Other times the emotion slowly crawls on us over time and it engulfs us before we are aware that it's even happened. None of these are wrong, but we can make choices about our emotions, even if we don't want to admit it. 

Why am I always so happy? Why am I always full of joy? It because I choose to be. I not 100% happy all of the time, I have my bouts with anxiety, anger, fear, and every other emotion. However, I choose to be happy. I choose to no let every little thing in the world get me down. There are so many people in the world that choose to sit in their anger, fear, and they end up playing victim. People will say that happiness doesn't last and that it's pointless to be happy as often as I am. I am aware that happiness doesn't last. I am aware that not everything is sunshine and rainbows. That being happy is not permanent. Neither is sadness. Neither is fear. Neither is anger. 

No emotion lasts forever. 

You can't always choose how you feel about a moment or a person. You can't always choose how to react when unexpected things happen. You can choose to be victim to an emotion to the rest of your life. That also include happiness. If you are always trying to stay happy, if you are chasing happiness only, you will fail. That failure will hurt more than just letting the emotion that you are trying to hide.

Becoming a slave to one emotion is no way to live life. 

I choose to be happy whenever I can, and choose the other emotions to come when they do. They are all important and all need to be felt.  

Come Forward: March

Working on several projects, without saying what the projects are, is getting hard. It's much harder than I thought. The reason that I think it's harder is because I have nothing really to compare it to. The last "Secret" Project I didn't wasn't really a secret. It was something I didn't advertise the I was doing, and because I was actively doing it, people found it. I required me to physically be going somewhere. 

While, I feel like I am mostly alone in doing something like this, I know that I have God to help me. One of these projects is very much His doing. 

However, I will say that the movie that I watched this month has a very similar feeling about what I have felt like this month so far. 

The Life of Pi

Pi is a young man from India who is about to go on an adventure that is hared to believe. He was born into a loving family that supported him and his always advancing beliefs. He gets news one day that, due to the going unrest that is happening around them, they are leaving India go to go America. They pack up all of the zoo animals that have, and load them onto a Japanese boat. 

Not fitting in with the people around them, Pi finds his comfort being with the animals below deck. While he wishes that he could stay there, he has to go sleep with his family in his room. That night a massive storm haunts the boat in the middle of the ocean. Pi goes out to see the storm firsthand, and find the boat is starting to sink. Everyone is trying to get to the lifeboat, but his family is already stuck under the water in the bows of the ship. The crew tries to get Pi to get on the boat, but he is fighting them off because he wants someone to come and help him rescue his family. A good portion of the animals have escaped, and were causing problem for the rest of the humans, that were alive, to get on board. 

Due to the insanity of the animals and the boat slipping away too fast from the ship, the only being to make it out alive are: Pi, a zebra, an orangutang, a hyena, and one Bengal Tiger.

The hyena quickly takes out the orangutang and the zebra, and when he is about to take down Pi, the Tiger, whose name is Richard Parker, takes the life of the Hyena. 

Now you might be thinking, this must be a short movie because he tiger must kill Pi? Nope. Pi will be the next year or so of his life helping the tiger, and himself, survive what the sea brings them. He makes a raft for himself to be apart from the tiger, he starts to hunt the fish for the tiger to keep it from dying, and he tries to train the tiger. Although, the last bit does not work out too well for him. 

One of the things the Pi does that is remarkable is he starts to make a schedule for himself. He does everything he can to take care of them both, but to also to keep his mind entertained so he has something to do to keep him active and going. 

It is all of this that makes him successful. Pi, and the tiger, one day make it to land and are saved. However, Richard Parker goes into the nearby forest never to be seen again. 

I now understand what I have been missing. The movie has got to be one of the most beautiful movies that I have ever seen in my life. I don't even know how they were able to make the sky, the sea, the storm, the stars, and the endless amounts of water look as beautiful as a dream. It really makes me wonder if the the sky could ever look that beautiful in real life. 

None of that would be nearly as impressive if the one lone actor of the whole movie was not good. Suraj Sharma delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen. Granted, he is not the only actor but he rally is the only one for most of the movie since almost the whole thing is him being lost at sea with a tiger. To act against no one for the amount of time has got to be hard. 

Really, watching the move does tell you a lot about motivation. At any point, Pi could have just given up. He could have said that there is was no way out, no one was looking for him, and that he could just sink to the bottom of the ocean and be with the rest of his family. To spend nearly a year at sea surviving with a tiger, you have to keep motivated. He would literally die if he did not stay motivated. Like I also mentioned, he started make plans and having somewhat of a routine. In reality, a routine is really a lot of mini deadlines to meet. 

I have always had a deadline of a year for all of the projects that I have done. Usually I break everything up into a month, so there are several deadlines in a year to make sure I get everything I want done done. 

So, I made a deadline for a project and I completed it. Since I have never done anything like this before, I didn't think that having a deadline was going to be as helpful as it was. I know that if I give myself one then it might help me to get my butt in gear when I am falling behind. I am not saying that I a going to have a crazy deadline, but if I am not keeping up with stuff then it really might be helpful and not hurtful. 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Strike Up The Band

 Ladies and Gentlemen!

It was a little bit soon than I thought it was going to be, however, we have made it to my favorite Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film: Strike Up The Band

Jimmy Connors has high hopes of making his school band into a dance band. With his would also be the once in a lifetime chance to perform in Chicago in front of Paul Whiteman, and winning his contest. His best friend, Mary, is in full support of this dream and is will to do anything and everything she can to help. When Jimmy gets smitten with the new girl, Barbara, Mary starts to largely be the one to make sure the dream comes to fruition. They have to raise $200 to get the whole band to Chicago and audition. They come up with a plan for the band to put on a show at their local theater and make some money that way. Jimmy missing the meeting to secure the location when he takes Barbra out on a date. Mary take the meeting herself and they put on a 1890's themed show for the community. They earn about $150 from the show and have to come up with another way to make more. The whole band is invited to Barbara's birthday with a surprise, Paul Whiteman and his band are performing. After securing a $50 loan from Whiteman, the band is on their way to Chicago! That is until one of the their friends finds out he is badly injured and needs emergency surgery. They need to charter a plane to get him to the right hospital in time. It costs about $200. They give the money, and all their hopes of competition, go with their friend. However, Barbara is a good friend to have. Her father heard what the kids did for their friend, and used his connection with the railroad to get the band to the competition just in time to Strike Up The Band. 

I love this movie! There are so many reason to love it but I will say just a few. 

When you are talking about some of the greatest comedic actresses of all time, Judy Garland is usually always left off that list. I learned a long time ago that Lucille Ball, hilarious actress in her own right, would say that Judy Garland was one of the funniest people that she had ever known. Watching this movie I have to agree with her. 

Ms. Garlands performance in the "Gay 90's" show is one of the funniest scenes in any movie. You can tell that she is adoring playing for fun on that stage. The one scene that comes to mind that could beat this scene is the one with Gene Kelley in The Pirate but we will get there soon enough! 

Watching this movie again, I reminds me how much I am in love with Mickey Rooney. He is an actor that most people know of without knowing they know him. He is the voice of Santa in all of the 70's cartoon tv movies, and the for the the fox in The Fox And The Hound. He is one of the most diverse and underrated actors. He was not considered this at the time, but for some reason some of the biggest, and best, stars fade over time. 

While I was hoping that I didn't have to watch the movie so soon, I am still glad to watch it. I really love reliving this movie as many times as my DVD let me. Which was a really true statement because it no longer works, and I had to buy it on streaming just to keep it in my roster. 

If you want the best the Judy and Micky have to offer, Strike Up The Band is the move you need to see next. 

Come Forward: February

So, the second month of the year. How is everyone doing with their resolutions? It's usually by the start of this month that most people feel like they have failed too much to continue with the promises they have made to themselves. Then, of course, the "season of love" is upon us and that mean hundreds of pieces of chocolate are thrown into our lives. Now, this could be because we have some who brings us chocolate, or the amount of healthy food that you have been eating feels like it's killing your soul. Chocolate fixes most of those things. Though, don't take my word for it because I am not a doctor. 

I think one of the biggest identifiers in if someone is going to stick to what they say they are going to do is if they talk about it. I know there are people out there that are all talk, but for the most part, if you discuss what you are doing to change your life with other people they normally help and support you. I am guilting of being mostly all talk this year thus far. I know that I have needed to get to the gym and really start to work out, not just go to say I went. I really need to make that a part of my lifestyle not just a box to tick off a list. While I have failed in that area, my eating out less and healthier has gotten surprisingly better. I have cut way down on the soda, and have made more meals at home. I have saved some money from this too. I know that this is because I started talking about the days I do well, and the days I don't, with friends of mine. I know that there were a few days I said "screw it" and had what I wanted when I wanted. In the past that would just give me a pass to not get back on eating better. However, I find that the next day I want the water and the healthy food back. 

Ok, so why am a talking so much about eating better, and what does this have to do with motivation?

Talking about, and getting excited about, the things you are doing in your life makes you want to continue to do them. 

Now, talking is very much one of my strong points, but when it came to Michael Oher, not was not so much the case.

 Michael Oher is a young man of very few words. With some help, he was granted admission into a private school to help him to get a better education, and a chance to get him out of the life he was in. Michael was hard to miss at his new school. Not only was he a larger young man, but it was easy to tell that he was homeless. He would do his best of keep the few clothes that he had clean, and feed himself with any food that he could find. He tried to stay under everyone's radar. That is until he met Leigh Tuohy and her family. 

Leigh had notices Michael around campus, her children also attended the same school, but never gave him much thought. Until one night after her daughters volleyball game, she noticed him walking around in the bitter cold with just a short sleeve shirt on. She prompted her husband, Sean, to stop the car and asked him where he was going. When he answered the gym, because it was warm, she knew that she could not leave him out in the cold. She put him in the car and took him home and he stayed there through the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Well, that was the original plan. 

It didn't take long for Leigh, Sean, and the rest of the family to love Michael like one of their own. They got him his own room, some more clothes, and lot of love. Leigh did everything she could to help Michael succeed in school. Once he found that he could play football very well, with the right motivation, she knew that his grades needed to improve so that he could be eligible for scholar ships for college. 

When the recruiters started coming in, they knew they need more help than what the school could provide alone. They brought in a private tutor, Ms. Sue, to help him learn how to learn, and show him that he was capable of more than what the world thought him to be. 

He made it to graduation with a 2.52 GPA and a scholarship to Old Miss. Proving that he could do anything. 

What I loved about this movie is that Michael didn't talk much. I know that sound very rude and unheard of, but give me a chance. Michael is a gentle giant. Just because he is kind and quiet doesn't mean that he can't find or defend the people that he loves. When he is pushed to the limits, he will do whatever it takes to take care of those people that he cares for most in the world. He can become scary, and unpredictable when he is pushed. However, when he does choose to ask for something, or say something, you know it's something that he has thought about for a long time. When he chooses to open up to Leigh about his childhood, you are compelled to lean in and learn about his past. When he talks about why he wants to go to Old Miss you want to hear him because it's what he truly feels about the school. Michael never talks just to say something. He speaks when he knows he needs to use his voice, and when he is excited about something he loves.

I have started on something in the last year that I have only told one person about. It's something that I still cannot believe that God has called me to do. While I don't want to go around and tell everyone I know about what I am doing, I am very thankful to the one friend that I have entrusted the secret with. She didn't judge me when I told her about it. She has asked me how the project was going, and she has encouraged me to tell her all of the steps I am taking as I am taking them. She has walked with me for a year already in the thing that I don't know when it will end. 

Talking about the things you are excited of accomplishing makes doing, whatever it is, easier and more fun. I just did a tour and few other things I needed to do to help me on this journey and my friend has been there with me this whole time. She has been just as excited, and sometime more excited, about this with me. I was planning on not telling anyone what I was working on. However, I have come to learn that if I didn't have my friend for me to talk to about everything concerning this project, I would have given up. I would have stopped because I would have no one to tell me that I could do what I was called to do, and I could do it well. 

Do I need to talk about it every single minute of every single day? No. Honestly, most of the time when she brings it up first I want to change the subject because imposter syndrome is real. However, having the space to talk about it has given me the push to do the steps that I have taken and it's gotten me this far. 

Talk about the things that you are passionate about. It could be just the motivation you need to continue with your dream. 

The Man Behind The Curtain: February

We are now in the third month of 2024 and time is flying much faster than is normally does for me. I think with how busy I have been in the last several months I thought that February would give me some sort of a break. Seeing that it's March 1st and I only just now got caught up on the movies that I wanted to watch for the month, I think time is already slipping away from me. I am thankful that this coming weekend I have no plans. I am very hopeful that I can get some stuff that I have been avoiding done, and also maybe get a head start on some stuff. 

So, I have found kind of a flaw in my Authentic themed project this year. Usually, I am very to the point on what I want to talk about and what I want to match with. I feel like both of my plans are somewhat half baked. The reason that neither one of them is super extensive this year is because I knew going in I was going to be overwhelmed. The problem with this one, in particular, is a huge part of it is a surprise for my friends at the end of the year. So I am kind of at a loss for what I want to go in depth with what make certain parts of me authentic. Why I love certain things. So, I think it's going to be a lot of last minute question here you guys. However, I have been thinking about one thing this month in particular. 

However, we need to talk about Jack Black and The School of Rock first. 

 

Dewey Finn and an aspiring Rock and Roller whose biggest dream is to win the Battle of the Bands. Winning the competition gives you a huge chance to be able to have any and all of you rock star dreams coming true. Dewey's ego, and inability to be able to work well with other gets him kicked out is his band before he has a chance to go after that dream. This, and the fact that he is falling way behind in rent, puts Dewey in a bind to have to get some sort of job. In a moment of desperation, and pure luck, he is home when a school principal calls looking for his roommate to sub a class long term. Dewey gets the idea that he can sub, without much work, and get a paycheck that will give him a chance to get a new band together and get back on track. 

Everything is going to plan until the kids that he wanted nothing to do with, show that they have some musical talent that he knows he can exploit to get back into the competition. With some more lying, and a bit of acting on the part of the kids, his plan works and they start working together to become the best band that they can be. However, Dewey realizes that not only does he love being with the kids and teaching them about music, that he loves being a with the other teachers as well. He starts to make friends with kids and teachers alike, while also helping these private school kids find that they are more than just a grade. Music really let them come out of their shells and is helping them to explore different kids of music, and other things that they are interested in. 

This is a movie that I have seen just a few times in my life, and never all the way through at once. It's way different than what I thought it was for some reason. However, this film is just the best way to show Jack Black just being Jack Black in a movie. I mean I really hope he is not that much of jerk in real life like he is at the beginning of the movie, but the rest of it seems like what you see of them on the red carpets. 

What I really loved about this film is that Jack Black really loves music in real life, and it very much shows in this movie. He loves playing, dancing, and teaching about it. He uses all different kinds of music to help the kids to connect with what their strengths are and how so many different type of people are in the music business. Also, all the ways you can be apart without having to sing or play an instrument. Jack Black talking about music like it's connected to his soul, and that a part of him would cease to exists if music was no longer a part of his life. 

That is how I feel about movies. That should not be a surprise if you are here reading this. I think just about every single blog I have written has mentioned a movie of some type on there. If you remember my post from last year that I went to see a movie in the theatre where my parents met, you know that movies seem to be part of my DNA. My first movie was Aladdin. I went to see that when I wasn't even on yet and my dad had to put the film together. Mom took me to the theater and I got to watch it before anyone else did walking around in my walker in the theater. 

My mom has even told me that I learned how to "read" when I was very small from the VHS tapes of Disney movie I had. I knew what tape when in what box. Really I think I just matched the patterns of the writing of the title to the same writing on the box. I have always had some sort of movie memorabilia up on my walls. However, it wasn't until I saw The Wizard of Oz when I was 16 that my loves of movies got to the level that is has. Half my lifetime ago I fell in love with movies in a significant way. 

Why? 

I think it's because movie are a way to speak to people without having to over complicate the world. I have been to many movies in my life and I don't always go when I am happy. I have been when I was in love, scared, heartbroken, mourning, angry, confused. The movies are designed to tell you a story and in doing so they have to be allowed to control you emotions to a degree. They are made to get you to think about more than yourself, and to consider and question you. They are a way to interact with the world and discuss things that don't normally happen to you. 

They tell real stories, fake stories, love stories, and even the most vile and heart wrenching things you can possibly imagine. They have to do this in a matter of hours and cover so much ground. Stores that you would have never heart of before are unfolded in front of your eyes. The past, present, and future all exist in 28 seconds per frame. I constant movie snapshot of life being played out before your life. Just like telling a story with your friends you can have the same story told but in a different way and perspective and have it be a totally different feeling story while still getting all of the fact right. 

I love movies because I love good stories. While there are a lot of the technical aspects of movies that I love too, I love that you can tell all different kids of stories to all different kids of people all over the world. No matter how real, or outrageous, that story can be.