[jamesn.]

Welcome to the forums Patrick; so glad to have you here. I was so deeply moved by your personal story it reminded me of a couple of lines from the movie: “Dead Poets Society”; where Robin Williams played high school English teacher: John Keating and in these 2 scenes: 1) The Meaning of Poetry; he refers to life as a stage where: “The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse – What will your verse be?” And 2) where he tells his students: “We are all food for worms” and uses the Latin phrase: “Carpe Diem; or Seize the Day”; as a metaphor for their life choices and to make their lives extraordinary.

So my question refers to the term “Bliss”; and whether since you made this film do the people you talk to understand what goes with this journey? (I realize this may be subjective to the individual interpretation; but by that I mean Joseph said that this choice was a destiny call coming out of; as he put it: “from the push out of your own existence”. And often there was a misunderstanding which at one point out of frustration he mentioned: “Perhaps I should have said: (follow your blisters).” I say this because often I think people get the idea that it just means finding what you love to do; and don’t understand the pain and suffering that can often go with this life journey or adventure; and that the hero is a metaphor for what one must often undergo; not necessarily someone who wins a victory. I think this is a critical idea because it ties into everything else concerning the life that one must sometimes live that often gives it it’s greatest depth of meaning. (Tolkien’s: “Lord of the Rings”- trilogy would be one example for instance; with the character Samwise Gamgee in the: “Two Towers”; when he says to Frodo who is down-hearted and discouraged:

“I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something. – (What’s that Sam?) “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.”

(Again Patrick; welcome here; and I’ll be looking forward to hearing you this week!