IN THIS LIFE...

I wear about as many hats as any small business owner. We all do. In the corporate world it would be called “cross-training”. My crowded calendar and to-do list would be my “dashboard”.

But it’s independent film. It’s a documentary. No remuneration whatsoever except what feeds our souls. It’s about making our own rules and building our own road on which to travel. It’s a heck of a lot of work and, at the same time, the corporate world would call it “goofing off”. I work in the mornings, over my lunch hour, and usually late into the night or early morning hours.

I attend an awards evening.
I sit in a friend’s back yard and watch squirrels and listen for garbage trucks.
I watch people arrive at a rodeo.
I empathize with a couple closing the doors on their dreams.
I walk onto a newly developed college on a hot Sunday afternoon that used to be my friend’s backyard.
I learn to Salsa at a Hookah Lounge.
I listen to struggling poets.
I watch a friend perform in his band before flying to Liverpool.

All the while I listen to people’s long string of words on which hand fancy baubles and crystal beads, polished bones and misshapen clay blobs. Then, unexpectedly, a priceless jewel gets strung on. I smile to myself and at those working hard alongside me because my partner has coaxed something amazing out of our patient interview. What have they given us? Not saving blood or money to fund a change in the world; they’ve given us their thoughts and wishes and experiences and impressions, and what else can be as valuable as what makes a person who they are? And, we've captured it to share with you...

Christine