Movie Magic

"Movies mirror us and invite us to go beyond the obvious. Their themes and images can powerfully equip us to see ourselves as we are at our worst, and at our best, or to help us invent new scripts about who we hope to be... Everything placed in our path can help us... Certain films- like certain lovely people, glorious works of art or music, and special instances of prayer- seem a grace expressly given for our edification."- Marsha Sinetar

Movie Meditation

"I use movies to replenish my creative well- usually videos, which we watch on the weekend. I crave period films with lush sets and costumes for my visual fix, rely on comedies for relief from stress, and seek out black-and-white mysteries and romantic classics from the 1930's and 1940's for sheer escape. I collect movies about angels, reincarnation, the afterlife, and everlasting love. I won't watch scary movies or films with senseless violence- nor should you, because once an image is imprinted on your consciousness it's there forever. I think we all need the uplift provided by films that inspire, encourage, affirm, and celebrate the human spirit.

Meditatively matching your mood to a movie is very restorative and rewarding."- Sarah Ban Breathnach- August 26- Simple Abundance

Movies Can Empower

"Good movies make you care, make you believe in possibilities again."- Pauline Kael

"Studying movies for their mystical message empowers us. We gain insight and greater self-awareness."- Marsha Sinetar in her book Reel Power: Spiritual Growth Through Film.

"Movies elevate our sights, enlarge imagination. Film, like poetry, is one of our heart's most subtle agents. It reminds us of what we know, helps us stretch and change, provides us with a sensory catalyst for creative, cutting-edge change."- Marsha Sinetar

Reel power is "the ability to dig out, and use, whatever is spiritually valuable in a movie."- Marsha Sinetar

Letters to Juliet

Ahhh... those "What-ifs". That's what this movie is about: how what-ifs in our lives can often haunt us, unless we do something about them. Or maybe it's suggesting to just go for it (whatever "it" may be, so that we don't have to worry about what-ifs). Letters to Juliet demonstrates how in some cases, it's not too late to act on a what-if, especially in matters of love. It might not turn out how you wanted, and you may have lost a lot of time in between if it does, but at least you don't have to wonder anymore.

Sophie, the main character, is on a pre honeymoon in Italy with her fiance Victor. They both decide to site-see separately one day, because Victor is a chef exploring the many tastes of Italy in the vineyards, while Sophie is more fascinated by literature and writing.

On Sophie's list of places to visit is the house where Juliet lived in Verona (Yes, Juliet as in THE Juliet from Romeo and Juliet). And Sophie is surprised by what she sees. On the wall outside the house, there are dozens of letters written by women, and all the letters are addressed to Juliet. Some of the women are sitting on the steps writing and shedding tears onto their paper, from the emotions they are revealing to Juliet, but writing none the less.

Sophie is intrigued and follows a group of women carrying a basket full of the letters. These women call themselves Juliet's secretaries because they respond to all the letters on behalf of the legendary Juliet. While picking up some letters off the wall herself, Sophie comes across a letter written fifty years ago. It was written by a woman named Claire, who was too afraid to fight for her love because she knew her family would disapprove, yet she shares her story with Juliet in her writing.

Sophie decides to write back to Claire and thus, the tale begins... a story of perseverance, passion, being guided by intuition, having faith in destiny, but also doubting destiny.. feeling defeated by it because you think it's "letting you down" at times, it is not coming through the way you hoped. But most of all, the tale is about never ever giving up on love. After fifty years, Claire hasn't, and it's all because of Sophie's letter.

"Doubt thou the stars are fire. Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar. But never doubt my love," a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet (I believe) was quoted in a scene in the movie.

Those words, as archaic as they may be now, still pull at my heartstrings... reminding me of what I really feel deep down inside: that no matter what I've gone through in relationships, and heard about from friends' relationships- the heartaches, the betrayals, the bitter sweet loves and the mysterious ones that have just disappeared without closure- I will always, always, always believe in Love, the true and real kind. It's scary, it's painful, it can make you crazy and angry and confused sometimes, and test you as a person, but real love is worth believing in. I just know it is. It has to be. It's out there, somewhere. In fact, I think I felt it at a time...

But God knows I haven't given it my all sometimes. And maybe that's why I understand the what-ifs. I have had that feeling of wondering, or imagining what could have been. And I don't always know how to tell if it's just simply curiosity and whimsical daydreaming- just reflecting on a "not-meant-to-be" experience, or if it's a sign that I should have acted on it, or should still act on it...that I should say something and dare to see what will happen next.

"Now, I just want to tell him that I'm sorry that I was such a coward," says Claire. I could really feel for her. I know I've had my own cowardly moments, where I didn't say all that I wanted to in a relationship, didn't risk looking like a fool for love, or where I didn't fight as hard as I could have for love. I hope I do in the future.

My friend Diane (or writer Lucy Smiles) said it so well today when she shared her own experience: "I used to keep one foot in and one foot out of my relationships because I was too afraid to commit, too afraid to trust. I wanted to make sure I had a way out, if I needed."

I smiled because I could flashback on times when I did exactly the same. But that's when the what-ifs resurface... when you know you didn't give it your all. Because if you give it your all, and the relationship doesn't work out, at least you are certain you did your part. I am hoping the next time around.. the next time love comes into my life, I step in with both feet, trusting it and myself, so there is no room for "what-ifs".

But how do you know when a what-if is just a moment of nostalgia, of bitter sweet reminiscing, compared to a what-if that is calling to you to act, to go for it without looking back? How do you know the difference?

This idea of what-ifs, and the aching of what could have been... reminds me of India Arie's song "These Eyes". In it, she describes a lost love or a relationship that never fully developed as "the greatest story never told": "Of life's many mysteries, what intrigues me the most... is who our children would have been, I guess we'll never know. Even as I walk away, I'll always keep the hope..."

Movies are not just movies... when they have the power to make you move and be moved and rethink your actions, or act on something that you've let sit inside you for too long, or just stir something up inside you that perhaps needed stirring ...or confirm what you've always believed... only to have you believe in it even a little stronger and longer. Letters to Juliet did just that for me.