Sweet Hubby and I recently attended a film festival in Pt. Townsend, a sweet little city about 2 hours away from us. This is an annual event for us, and we always have a terrific time. There are 6 venues, but they are so close together, it's possible to see as many as 5 films a day. Because of the rushing from screening to screening, our meals often consisted of a hot dog or slice of pizza or cup of yoghurt.
Altogether, I saw 2 full length narrative films, 12 full length documentaries, and 41 shorts.
My favorite film of the festival was "Come See Me in the Good Light", which introduced me to Andrea Gibson and her wife Megan Falley, both poets. Andrea, the subject of the film, was poet laureate of Colorado. This film follows the couple as they deal with Andrea's terminal cancer. No other documentary has ever made me laugh as heartily, nor weep as fully. Watching this film is like meeting two clever, funny, smart, magnificent people, falling in love with them, and then realizing one of them is going to die.
A favorite line that came out of that film is "Whatever you are feeling, label it love." On the surface that seems a bit facile and new-agey, but as I thought about it, I realized there is a lot of wisdom in that statement. My rage at the current administration, for example, is based on my love for this country and its highest principles, my love of justice and fairness. Grief is based on the love we have for what/who we've lost. I'm definitely going to keep reminding myself of this splendid idea whenever I am full of feeling.
Another wonderful take-away from the festival is this: "Parents lay the foundation. Children build the house." I don't remember which film it's from, but I think it might have been "Her Fight, His Name", a short documentary about Eric Garner's mother, who has survived a string of terrible losses, the worst, of course, being the murder of her son by police.
While waiting for a film to begin, I had a sweet conversation with another audience member, a woman who was very frank about having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, although she must be in the beginning stages. The best part of the conversation, the part I have taken with me and want to share, was when she said that she thinks of God as Good Old Dirt. And also Great Out Doors. Now that's a god I can definitely believe in and even worship. Thinking of god as the natural world strikes me as infinitely wise and practical, because it's possible to have a clear, concrete, enlivening relationship with Nature, and Nature is the source of all things.
We had a great time, SH and I, doing something we love together in a lovely place. Who could ask for anything more? That's what I would want on my tombstone, by the way, if I were going to have a tombstone, which I'm not. But that is what I want you to know I feel about my life: Who could ask for anything more?
