“Tell Me What’s Not There.”

Have you seen the movie, The Magic of Belle Isle?  It’s a little piece of fluff staring Morgan Freeman and Virginia Madsen.  When I say fluff, I mean, it’s the movie version of the finest, biggest batch of cotton candy you’ve ever eaten.  You will more than likely need to brush your teeth vigorously after having watched it, unless you have a Kaiju – sized sweet tooth.

Anyway, I watched it based on a friend’s recommendation; she sold me on Morgan Freeman’s dialog. I’m a sucker for his voice to begin with so when it’s wrapped around some well written phrases, I’m there.  This movie did not disappoint in that area – almost every word Morgan uttered was poetry.  The writer should be awarded. If I ever had a man speak to me the way he speaks to Virginia Madsen’s character in the dream sequence…I’d marry him on the spot. Again, it’s sickeningly sweet, but still poetry, sheer poetry.

But that’s not why I’m here, lol.  Morgan instructs a young writer to “tell me what’s not there” as a way to get her to use her imagination. That one line set off so many bells inside me it was ridiculous. So often I’m focused on what’s in front of me. Now, while I’m driving, that’s a good thing, but when faced with dream acquisition, not so much. I’ve got to get back to seeing “what’s not there” – filling in the blanks so to speak so I can focus on what’s possible; what can I do to get to what I want.  Too often I’m stuck seeing obstacles which seem to multiply in both number and size the longer I look at them. I know the gurus say you have to know what obstacles you face in order to plan for them, but as you’ve read…I rarely succeed doing things the way I’m “supposed” to.

I want to urge you, if you’re facing a problem, big or small, or perhaps if you’re a writer and you’ve stumbled into a plot hole that just doesn’t seem to have a way out…OR if you want to change jobs / start a business…whatever – if you’re in a situation where you don’t currently see a way out, close your eyes and tell me, “what’s not there”? I bet you’d be surprised at what you finally begin to “see”.

(speaking of cotton candy, this has got to be the ‘sweetest’ piece of fluff I’ve ever written, lol. Enjoy!)