Finding Your Inner Sunshine: Unconditional

5 Sep

Unconditional
My last blog post was about dancing, and even though it seems at first it has nothing to do with this post – I feel that it is a perfect fit and segue to what this post is about.

Sometimes children’s books can teach even the well-seasoned adult something new. Now, I actually heard about this book from a movie. What intrigued me about the book was first, whether or not it actually existed and second, the struggle that the film portrayed that the person had creating this children’s book.

The movie, which was inspired by true events, is called Unconditional. Now, although the movie’s plot isn’t a direct storyline about the journey of the children’s book, it is the events in the movie to which give heed to the plot in the book itself. The book, Firebird: He Lived for the Sunshine, is mentioned in the beginning and end of the film and it is actually the turning point of the film. But what caught me was the fact that the book itself wasn’t featured in the film. So I did what any English major graduate would do and I looked it up. Low and behold, the book is now real (it is co-authored by Brent McCorkle, the film’s director and Amy Parker).

Fast forwarding to the end of the Firebird – without revealing spoilers – the last page reads, “He still loved to bask in the sunshine. But more importantly, knowing that the sun was always there, Firebird had learned to rejoice in the rain.” Now, the word dance comes back to us here – and whatever that means to you is also another kind of beauty. Recalling my last blog where I mention “even in the midst of the ugly, of the terrible and unrecognizable moments, there is always beauty living amongst it”, this also alludes how even in the rain there is still light surrounding us.

Of course the Unconditional is a lot more theatrical in its production and how it chooses to portray significant plot twists that may not be so pertinent to the children’s book. But in the end it’s evident that hope is something that is alive in us all and just like a rainy day may feel a little cloudy in your heart and mind, it doesn’t mean that hope/light doesn’t exist inside you.

So all in all, this combination of movie and book spiked an interest in me because of the rarity and reality of the conflict we deal with between the natural, tangible and the intangibility of life.

You can check out Unconditional from BCCLS libraries.  Several of Amy Parker’s inspirational books for children are also available from BCCLS libraries including Tiny Blessings for Giving Thanks and Tiny Blessings for Bedtime.

Written by:
Sherissa Hernandez
Adult Programming Assistant

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Who is Your Inner Dancer?: Jordan Matter’s Dancers Among Us

29 Aug

DancersAmongUs
One of my favorite gifts I received was a book called Dancers among Us: A Celebration of Joy in the Everyday by Jordan Matter. It was a non-special occasion gift – in fact it was a just because gift – and I feel that even this fact adds meaning to how I interpret the book.

Jordan Matter said it best in the first page, “A book made to make you dream. A book to take your breath away. A book not just for the dancers among us, but for the dancer inside each of us.”

Upon first glance it is clear that this is a photography book capturing nuances of dancers doing everyday things in extraordinary ways. But upon deeper reflection, it’s evident that it is not only so.

Delving straight into the book, my favorite chapters are “exploring”, “grieving” and “working,” life’s anthems. Within these chapters are some of my favorite photographic moments. Some of the titles of said chapters, such as “craving”, “transfer”, and “work boots” are only a glimpse into a “dancey” way that one’s everyday life can seem like a dance. But what do these glimpses REALLY show.

Everyone has heard – or so norm dictates – that “A picture is worth 1,000 words” but what does that mean? Being the stickler that I am, I love answering a question with another question. So … what is dance to you?

What I love about this book is that it actually creates the situations and captures images of dance in everyday movement. Just as seen on the chapter “working” with a picture titled “transfer”. I’m sure everyone can relate to rushing to catch that one train. And even if you don’t call yourself a dancer, in that moment you are. In that moment you can feel exactly what that picture is emoting. Dashing and grooving your way past the thick 7 am crowd of people who have great mornings and made their coffee at home while skipping and whistling their way to the train station – yeah, those people.

That’s why I love this book. It’s exactly that, a celebration of joy in the everyday illustrated to us through dancers among us.

But what makes a dancer? And what is dance? The dictionary defines it as “a series of movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music”. So getting to work, doing the laundry, crunching those numbers, going for that coffee run is a dance. We are all dancing our way through life.

We are all extraordinary – mothers, fathers, husbands, business partners – going through life the best way we can. Trying to break that habit, trying to catch that train. That’s what I find so great about this book. It’s not all pictures of course, there are some stories behind certain photos and we even get a glimpse into the creative process and not just the beautiful outcome. Which is a lot like life. Everything is in some way, shape or form a dance: parenthood, loneliness, depression, happiness, anxiety, and loss. We dance our way through what we feel, through where we are and who or what we are. We are all dancers. And even in the midst of the ugly, of the terrible and unrecognizable moments, there is always beauty living amongst it.

Written by:
Sherissa Hernandez
Adult Programming Assistant

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