Last night, Bellisima Living teamed up with Collage to show another thought-provoking film–our third in our summer movie series. We had a circle of women in attendance who all found the movie full of powerful and insightful messages. The film, How To Cook Your Life, by German filmmaker Doris Dörrie, documents a summer in the life of renowned Zen practitioner and cook Edward Espe Brown as he teaches culinary classes in Zen centers in Austria and California. Woven throughout the documentary were many analogies for life and life’s lessons, providing us with much food for thought as we considered the role food plays in our lives, our bodies and our spirits. The film was not only informative, but provocative, touching, and funny as well.
What I especially loved about last night was the wonderful discussion that took place after the movie. The women in attendance were all interested in looking deeply into their own lives and at the issues and challenges, as well as the wonderful aspects, of the world we live in. I walked away from the evening with a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to share with women who wish to connect deeply with others and within themselves.
I and Collage will continue to host movie nights in order to stimulate dialogue about all kinds of issues related to our environment, social justice, and spiritual fulfillment. The benefits of being stimulated to look in new directions and to engage in dialogue will go far in making our world a better place.
If you have the opportunity to host movie nights with family, friends and neighbors, I encourage you to do so. You can find great documentaries and inspirational movies at Netflix. Netflix now has many more films available to watch online. The benefit is that no DVD needs to be mailed to you and returned by you–you watch the movie via your computer. I do however still have films mailed to me because not every film is available via my computer.
Another option is a monthly DVD club such as Spiritual Cinema Circle. As stated on their website, “Spiritual Cinema Circle is the home of uplifting stories that inspire love and compassion, films that connect us with the world around us. Now in our sixth year, Spiritual Cinema Circle is home for a community of conscious filmmakers and film-lovers in more than 80 countries. We’re proud to have brought the work of more than 100 exciting, new independent filmmakers to the homes of tens of thousands of people around the world.”
Why not rent a movie or join a DVD club and be inspired? Better yet, why not get a group of people together and get some dialogue going?
