• About

Rachel Funk Heller

~ Social Alchemy: There's Magic in here….

Rachel Funk Heller

Tag Archives: movies

Gr8tful4: Broken Chairs and Pablo Neruda To The Rescue

17 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Rachel Funk Heller in Inspiration, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

creativity, funk, Inspiration, mood, movies, Pablo Neruda, poetry

Today didn’t start as I planned it. I had tons of work to do and when I sat down at my desk, I felt myself getting shorter and shorter. Turns out my desk chair is broken. My fat ass has been too much for the poor thing and it’s hydraulics have given out. This of course sent me into a funk (I can get away with saying that as it is my middle name) as I have back and neck “issues” and need to be in a chair that is the correct height for my computer set up. Wrong height leads to sore neck, headaches – and a crappy mood. I found myself dissolving in said mood, thinking about how much productive time I’m losing, blah-de-blah-de-blah.

face it, when your behind is not situated correctly, your mind won’t work at its best.

You see, I’m like editing the last 5,000 words of my boo, it’s the climax, the denoument, the great ending I’d been scheming up for months, and I just want to get it done, done, done. It’s time like these when I need to bring the “alchemy”, bring the “magic” to transform these useless thoughts into something — else. That’s when I turn to my bookcase and seek out people who are smarter than me. I have a collection of books and scraps of quotes and all sorts of things, and I stuck my hand in a notebook, and this is what came out, it is one of my favorite poems by Pablo Neruda. There are several translations of this poem floating around, I can’t recall which translation it is, but is is by far my favorite:

The Enigmas  by Pablo Neruda

you would know what the crab in its claw-hold of gold weaves,

And I answer: Ocean will say it

You ask what the luminous bell of the tunicate awaits in the water.

What does it hope for?

I tell you, it waits for the fullness of time, like yourself.

For whom does the alga Macrocystis extend its embraces?

Unriddle it, riddle it out, at a time, in a sea that I know.

And the narwhal’s malevolent ivory? Thou you turn for my answer,

I tell you you stay for a stranger reply: how he suffered the killing harpoon.

Or you look, it may be, for the kingfisher’s plumage, a pulsation of purest

beginning in the tropical water.

Now, on the lucid device of the polyp you tangle a new importunity,

Flailing it fine to the bran; you sift the electrical matter that moves on

the tines of the void; the stalactites splintering armor that lengthens its

crystal; the barb of the angler fish, the singing extension that weaves in the

depths and is loosed on the waters?

I would answer you: Ocean will say it — the arc of its life-time

is vast as the sea-sand, flawless and numberless.

Between cluster and cluster, the blood and the vintage, time brightens the

flint in the petal, the beam in the jellyfish; the branches are threshed in the

skein of the coral from the infinite pearl of the horn.

I am that net waiting emptily — out of range of the onlookers, slain in the

shadows,

Fingers inured to a triangle, a timid

Half-circle’s dimensions computed in oranges.

Probing a starry infinitude,

I came, like yourselves,

Through the mesh of my being, in teh night, and awoke to my nakedness —

All that was left of the catch — a fish in the noose of the wind.

For those of you who are old enough, or who are movie buffs, I first encountered a version of this poem in a 1990 film titled, “Mindwalk.” It is a film featuring three characters, a politician, a physicist, and a poet. John Heard played the part of the poet and he recites a different version of the poem at the end of the movie. Here’s a short clip from the film.

I hope you found this useful, for me it helps to read poetry every now and then, just to get me out of my regular vocabulary rut. I mean how many times in a day do you use words like, “luminous,” “tunicate,” and “malevolent”? But maybe you do, I’d love to hear from you and I’d love to hear what kind of poetry or other reading to you turn to when your mood turns… funky.

“Hugo” a Story for Children of All Ages…. Especially Grown Ups

05 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Rachel Funk Heller in Inspiration, Writing

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

creativity, Inspiration, movies, writing

Credit: Paramount Pictures

from "Hugo" Credit Paramount Pictures

We took my 86 year-old mother to see “Hugo” in 3D yesterday, she had a great time, she enjoyed it just as much as all the young children in the theatre. Luckily, mom managed to keep the 3D glasses on and got to enjoy the amazing tricks this technology has to offer. I found the new 3D technology impressive, but what struck me more about the story is how it handled the “good” guys and the “bad” guys.

Spoiler Alert…. If you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading and go see it. Allow yourself to get lost in the world created by Brian Selznick, in his book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” (according to Wikipedia, Brian Selznick is a first cousin twice removed from David O. Selznick, the Hollywood producer of “Gone With the Wind).

I have not read the original book, but John Logan wrote Martin Scorsese film version and they managed to pull of a very interesting trick. As you know, a good story has a powerful protagonist pitted against an equally powerful antagonist. It is the protagonist’s struggle against the antagonist that forms the bulk of a well-told story. In “Hugo” we meet Hugo Cabret, a young man who lives inside a train station in Paris who runs up against the bad tempered Toy Shop Owner and the Station Inspector who comes with a fierce Doberman pinscher (who looks exactly like him, imagine that)

I won’t give you a complete plot summary here; you can find that all over the web. But really, don’t read about the movie ahead of time, just go and see it and allow the magic to work on you. What I admire so much about it’s that as the story unfolds, we come to see that the “bad” guys in the movie aren’t really bad, they are flawed. And the “good” guys don’t always do the right thing. But are trying to do good things for others. You need a “bad” guy in the story so the hero has someone to challenge him, so he can see that he has abilities that he never knew he had. That as in life, our struggles against circumstances, either makes us or breaks us. We either learn to rise to the occasion and rise above the challenge or we let life chew us up.

In “Hugo” you got to see that toward the end, even the “bad” guys have redeemable qualities; they had the capacity to be open and vulnerable and that they had to capacity to love others. For me, it is a far more refreshing “message” for children to learn and for adults to be reminded. We still live in a world filled “enemies” and “criminals” and “bad” people. “Hugo” reminds us that we are all struggling, struggling to understand why our lives have turned out the way they have and that you can appreciate that we all have reasons why we act the way we do. That you can’t take things at face value, especially when it comes to people. My own flaw is that I make snap judgments about people very easily and dismiss them, when I need to remind myself that I am no better than the next person and everyone has a story to tell.

Have you seen “Hugo” ? What did you think? Or do you like to see “good” guys and “bad” guys duke it out and see the bad guy get it in the end? I can think of lots of “bad” guys who deserved their “comeuppance” in the end. Do you have a preference? If so, I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

The New Social Alchemy

Social Alchemy: is my version of the digital salon. Where interesting ideas are bandied about, where opinions are appreciated. Where all that makes life interesting: art, creativity, writing, love, and compassion are explored in many facets. And it's also a place to come and relax. When you want to turn off the digital noise, kick back, relax, and just be yourself. Thank you so much for visiting.

Topics I Love

  • astrology for writers (2)
  • Goofball Nonsense (7)
  • Grattitude (8)
  • Hawaii (3)
  • Inspiration (37)
  • Transcendantly yours (10)
  • WANA Love (5)
  • Writing (16)
  • Writing Tips (14)

Archives

  • March 2013 (2)
  • October 2012 (5)
  • September 2012 (10)
  • August 2012 (10)
  • June 2012 (1)
  • May 2012 (3)
  • April 2012 (1)
  • March 2012 (4)
  • February 2012 (3)
  • January 2012 (4)
  • December 2011 (4)
  • November 2011 (9)
  • October 2011 (10)

8000 words Aaron Hotchner art artists astrology Beatles blogging book reference caregiving Castaneda characters creativity Criminal Minds death detectives dogs Dramatica dying egg timer emotions failure fairy tales false eyelashes first draft food Forbidden fun funk goals gratitude Hawaii Heller humor Huxley Inspiration Jung Lennon life Love Mark W. Travis Mockingbird mom mother movies Mr. Spock murder mysteries mystery mystery novel novel novels P.D. james princess Rachel reading rejection Rumi scrapbooking sharing sillyness solstice celebrations Star Trek story storymind support Thanks theater travel trust videos WANA winter solstice workshops writer writers writing

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,066 other followers

Blogroll

  • Dramaticapedia Everything you want to learn about Dramatica Story Theory
  • Jenny Hansen's MORE COWBELL Blog Because face it, in this life you can NEVER have too much Cowbell
  • Kristen Lamb Blog advice maven
  • Mark W. Travis An amazing storyteller and teacher
  • WANA International To learn all you need about WANA, along with craft, tech, business & lifestyle classes
  • WANA Tribe Where all the WANAs frolic, come and join the fun

Blogs I Follow

  • Rachel Funk Heller
  • Hiking Photography
  • Julie Glover, Author
  • Catie Rhodes
  • Youth Speaks Hawai'i
  • The Daily Post
  • LEANNE COLE
  • Canadian Hiking Photography
  • Word Hunter
  • Bayard & Holmes
  • BundlePost
  • Chad Carver
  • renée a. schuls-jacobson
  • jansenschmidt
  • To Be Aware
  • STICKY WORDS by Jay Squires
  • Brian Mercer - Music of the Soul
  • tommielyn.wordpress.com/
  • Ingrid Schaffenburg's Blog
  • CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD

Fast Draft Survivors unite!

oh yeah!

WANA logo

A Proud Supporter of WANA Tribe

Twitter Updates

  • A trip up to the north shore to see the big waves 🌊 #nofilter #surfsup @ Sunset Beach, Hawaii instagram.com/p/CKILgXJDoyo/… 3 days ago
  • Don’t get me started. Okay, so I like lights #craftfun #homedecor #marthastewartcankissmyass #magnoliabejealous instagram.com/p/CJ2OsG2j5Ir/… 1 week ago
  • Good morning!☀️ instagram.com/p/CJ1YtJYjfcj/… 1 week ago
  • From today’s walk #grateful instagram.com/p/CJxDkmODhnm/… 1 week ago
  • We said goodbye to our beloved Chie yesterday. He was the silliest and most loving dog and we miss him terribly, bu… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 3 weeks ago
Follow @RchelFunkHeller

RSS Rachel Funk Heller

  • K. B. Owen’s own Alchemy: “Dangerous and Unseemly”
  • How To: Throw Your Wake BEFORE You Die
  • Gr8ful4: Mom is home and on the mend
  • Gr8ful4: Thoughtful Nurses
  • Friday Fun: Recycling Flipflops & Cast Reunions
  • Writing Matters: We Are Not Alone: WANA’s Rock!
  • Loving Family Traditions: Knowing When to Let Them Go
  • Friday Frivolity: Craft Disasters, Buddy Cole, and Billy Connolly
  • Writing Matters: “Several Short Sentences on Writing” and Why You Will Hate It
  • Gr8tful4: That My New Chair Found Me

for more Social Alchemy


Social Alchemy is a an island of inspiration in a sea full of digital snark. Thanks for stopping by, hope you had some fun.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Rachel Funk Heller

Social Alchemy: Celebrating the Creative Spirit

Hiking Photography

Julie Glover, Author

Catie Rhodes

The Kid Your Mother Warned You About

Youth Speaks Hawai'i

existence persists through language

The Daily Post

The Art and Craft of Blogging

LEANNE COLE

Trying to live a creative life

Canadian Hiking Photography

Word Hunter

exploring the writing world

Bayard & Holmes

If you're in a fair fight, you're using poor tactics

BundlePost

Social Media Content Management

Chad Carver

Stories, Poetry and Reflections

renée a. schuls-jacobson

because life doesn't fit in a file folder

jansenschmidt

BLOGGING FROM THE EDGE OF ETERNITY. Where imagination abounds, nothing is impossible.

To Be Aware

It's all about disbelieving your thoughts

STICKY WORDS by Jay Squires

Brian Mercer - Music of the Soul

Reflections on the human experience.

tommielyn.wordpress.com/

Ingrid Schaffenburg's Blog

Threadbare Gypsy Soul

CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD

EDGAR NOMINATED CRIME WRITER

Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy