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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 are we holding on to, Sam?"
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"That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for."
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In making movies, plays, images, music, I'm always reaching to tell one of those "stories" that Sam speaks of so wistfully. I'm always hoping to create and leave a seed that will touch people, make them feel something, and, perhaps, motivate them to act at the highest level of themselves to make a better world. If I get to make even a few of them that endure, I'll consider it a purposeful life well lived. That we press forward as a community of creators in that spirit, fighting against the dying of the light, is our true power. We must hold the light ever aloft for we are the bearers of hope itself for some. In Art is a reflection of hope. Artists stay true to your purpose.
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For independent creators of art, the world of entertainment, and movies in particular, can be very challenging and sometimes discouraging. It's hard to understand why we keep on with the business of it all sometimes. LOL! As I move into the exciting whirlwind of 2017, I pondered the "why" and came upon an eloquent reminder from the world of Tolkien & Peter Jackson. I wanted to share one of my favorite movie monologues of all time, delivered by the ever true, ever hopeful Samwise Gamgee at the crossroads of Hope & Dispair: We've all been there.
From Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
"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.
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"When U love what U do AND R really good at it... When it connects U 2 Ur higher self AND the higher power... When U MUST do it even when good sense & logic says STOP... It means U've come close 2 identifying a "calling." Go w/ that. #eyeDew"
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Why EYE do it.
-Rod Gailes OBC