Sometimes things just happen....without warning....no rhyme or reason....next thing you know you are a little further down the road....knowing that once again you stumbled upon a detour....or maybe you just jiggged when you were thought you were gonna jog & found yourself on an almost undiscovered path....
Keeps life interesting....if you're open to change....& adventure....
Being involved in the making of the movie, STEP AWAY FROM THE STONE, has been one of those excursions....it was not where I thought I was going last fall....heck, for once in my life I HAD a plan....with action steps....& a viable To Do List....
....then God said....nope, MJ....I have a different plan...
The movie industry has a lingo all its own....just like every other specialty....always wondered why that was....my guess is it's to keep insiders IN and outsiders OUT....a secret code....only for the accepted & initiated....
As the post-production editing process has been underway, one of the key words has been "transition". Producer, Karen McCann, says when someone doesn't know a film term she refers them to wikipedia for a definition. Wikipedia says that in film a "transition" refers to a "dissolve": In film editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another.
As we discuss scenes....and sequence....and flow....she always tells me that it's important to leave a few seconds a the end of the clip for transition....
A few seconds....that's it....in film....in life....between right now....and what's coming next....
Transitions. That's what keeps things moving forward. Much like chapters in a book. Scenes are created to capture a significant piece of the unfolding story.
There's always more to the story than what can be captured in an hour and a half of film. So it's important to only capture the highlights....the specific events that are the stepping stones from what-has-been to what-is-coming-next....too much information....and the pace bogs down....and interest is lost....
So the transitions become very important. They are the bridges spanning the missing pieces....the lapses of time....the flashbacks....what's happening over here at the same time as what's happening over there....
It's the same in life. Transitions. Post partum blues. The calm before the storm. The low that follows every amazing high. The valley respite after the mountaintop experience.
The times when God simply says Be Still. Take a few seconds. Catch your breath. Rest. Recharge. Get ready for what's coming next.....
During the still times....it's very easy to fall back into old habits that you are trying so hard to leave behind....and you wonder why it is that you're supposed to be still right now....when BUSY is what you need to keep you from taking out those memories....replaying those scenes....wandering back to the places that you just left in the hopes of recapturing something that no longer exists....or hoping to change the outcome of something that didn't go just the way you wanted it to....
....but the train's already left that station....so you lean back in your seat....wondering where the heck it's going....hoping you are on the right one....watching the landscape pass outside the window....
You rest....you reminisce....& more often than not, you kick yourself later for allowing yourself to be lured back to that place you just left....
Transitions. Timing. Pace. Flow. Life.
Recently, a friend shared with me that in a particular situation the problem was that this really good thing came along a few years too soon....that, of course, it WAS the right thing....exactly what was desired....it just came about "too soon".... in a couple of years all of the things that don't work right now will be ....resolved....and then it will be great....
Ok. I guess that could happen. Anything's possible.
It's never worked out that way for me, though. I just spent the better part of two years putting my life on hold....waiting on all those pesky things that were keeping the "right" thing from being the "right" thing to resolve themselves....
Lesson learned. If it's the "right" thing. It simply is. Right now.
If there are a bunch of "when this happens"...or "if only this happens"....then it probably isn't the "right" thing. It just looks like what you think you want.
Another lesson learned. What I THINK I want isn't necessarily the "right" thing after all. God has to keep reminding me of that one.....that what He has written into my story is going to be far more amazing than anything I can dream up on my own....and if I'd just stop trying to prolong each chapter....each scene....
If I'd embrace the transitions....move forward....I'd get to the good stuff a whole lot quicker...
There's always a reason why things are the way they are....& why they happen when they do. Each scene of the movie....each chapter of the story....builds upon the one before to prepare us for what's coming next....
And if something presents itself "too soon" in the story....then it's really not what it seems....it's a detour not a destination....detours are the scenic routes of the stories....fun....interesting....sidebars to the journey...
It's an experience designed to help us have a clearer idea of where we are heading....what we are looking for when we get there....
I struggle with that a lot. The holding on to the familiar....even after it has become totally obvious that the chapter has been closed....begging me to turn the page....reading....rereading....rewinding....replaying....
Hoping that somehow I missed something....that the it really didn't turn out that way....that somehow if I linger it will miraculously turn into a different story....the one that moves along the way I want it to....instead of the way it really is....
Transitions....just a few seconds....that's all you get....a pause to catch your breath....before the story moves on....with or without you....
If you linger too long the transition turns into a roadblock....and by the time you begin to move forward again....it's possible that you've missed an important part of the story....something good....that you now have to fastforward through in order to get to where you were supposed to be all along...
Funny. I have been putting off writing about "transition" for a few days. It first occured to me on Saturday...and I have thought about it a lot over the weekend....
Pretty sure where I got to here isn't where I originally intended to go with this train of thought.....
Then I remembered today's message:
On this day, God wants you to know...
... that there are times when a change of direction is for your highest good. It takes courage to change direction. Choose the path your heart agrees with and walk with your head high and your eyes open. Don't be afraid
....and somehow, I am sure that whatever it was that I thought I should say wasn't important.
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