Evening
It’s one o’clock in the morning and my brother, John, and I are sitting on either side of my father’s hospital bed in the quiet, dimly lit care unit in lovely costal southern California.
Our father is dying.
For several hours he has been disappearing into some realm where we could not follow. He stops breathing. Minutes pass. Then with a huge effort he takes another breath and returns.
He talks with us, making sure things are good between us, stays as long as he can, then some wind sweeps him away on his journeys. He repeats his coming and going all night.
John and I peacefully observe this profound mystery unfold.
My brother and I each have 30 year meditation practices. We’re comfortable just sitting. Just breathing. Even while our father dies.
It was intense, and it was sweet.
It was one of the richest times of my life and continues to inform my work and inspire my life.
The film, Evening, parallels John’s and my journey with our father.
I recommend you watch it. Here’s why. You can upgrade your right brain, (one of my four alluring paradigms) with this film.
This film will present you with beautiful design (one of the six skills for upgrading your right brain). It takes place by the sea in Newport, RI in a beautiful mansion.
I mostly want you to see it for its ability to fortify your empathy. Empathy is another of the six right brained skills you need to navigate the 21st C. Strengthening your empathy enhances your ability, as well as everyone else’s, to thrive.
Vanessa Redgrave plays Ann who is dying and drifting into and out of this and other realms like my father who thought he was in France. Claire Danes plays Ann as a young woman in the flashbacks.
The two sisters are played by Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson, who is the real life daughter of Vanessa Redgrave. Their bedside scenes will move you.
Some of the most fun, yes fun, and deepest wisdom come from the interactions between Ann and Ilene Atkins, the night nurse, while she is wearing a ball gown.
Even with all this death, my fathers and Ann’s, you will be richer for the journey.
Rent the DVD Evening. http://tinyurl.com/y6dmfn
