Anticipation

I'm fascinated by advertising. Ads create an anticipation of all the great things we don't have yet. With movies, ads create a foreshadowing of how the movie will make us feel. The movie trailers (movie commercial) always show the most expensive scenes, the biggest explosions, the loudest sounds and the wildest stunts. Have you ever been to a movie and felt it was completely different from its own advertising?

I think in some ways modern movie making has become the art of making a feature length trailer. Prevailing entertainment wisdom states audiences are addicted to the high points and impatiently await that next thrill. In response, movie studios release a collection of shots that comprise all the high points compiled together with fast cuts and big special effects. YET why is it we find ourselves oddly unfulfilled more and more with the bulk of movies lately? If studios are putting more money into creating more awe inspiring moments, shouldn't it stand to reason that movies could only be getting better?

I believe the thing we miss in the movie trailer version is MEANING. It takes time to craft a unique value or to add purpose and significance to an idea or a belief. Only then can the high points affect an audience, once it has been able to internalize the significance of that turning-point moment.

Yet how many times do you find yourself shooting for that next high point in your own life? Living for the next turning-point to happen? These moments alone have no deep significance. However the series of NOWs, the effort, the building of hope and the daring to risk creates value in our lives that lead up to these peak kodak moments. How lucky that most of us are not allowed to live in the shallow "trailer" version of life - a series of high points that ultimately numb our ability to appreciate any of them. How is your NOW adding significance and value to who you are and what you are about? When you embrace every moment of your own reality, notice how that adds meaning to the movie of your life.

All Things Possible!
Chris