Alive with Spirit: What part of your life could be a movie?

There is something in every person’s life, a moment, an era, a relationship, that could make a best-selling book or a masterful movie. Our stories are rich with learning and wisdom. The plot might be a single mom who is now a doting grandmother, the husband who carried his family forward for years working three jobs, a graduation, a birth, even a skinned knee might provide insight or shared humanity.

What part of your life which could be a movie as you have walked through your everyday experiences? Think about it. No one has had the experiences you have had.  Been to all the places you have been. Loved the people you have loved. Contributed to our world the way you have.

Writer Ram Das, in his book “Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying,” said (as we age), “Our relationship with the world at large shifts from “outer to inner.” We learn, as our worldly roles fall away, to place emphasis on connections of the heart. We come to recognize and honor our relationships with family, friends, and the greater community.”

In the Laguna Café, tucked into Willow Tree Center, two friends are creating a space where life stories come alive. They fill the place with exuberant joy, raw energy, delicious food and conscious community. Displayed around the room are photos of people from this area. Some of the photos are from the World War eras, some from yesterday. They are families, friends, and individuals. A sign on the wall says, “Every life has a story to tell.”  And another,” Every love story is beautiful but ours is my favorite.”

At the moment, my favorite love story is about these two women whose lives could make a marvelous movie.  They took all they had from the past; the good and the bad; washed it in love and started a vision of owning a place where people could eat, meet and become true community. People go into the next chapter of their life, stomachs filled with good food, hearts filled with love, and heads filled with the knowledge of community, connection and peaceful coexistence. Our lives are meaningful, precious, and worth sharing.

The Rev. Linda McNamar is a Laguna Woods Village resident.