Pamela Jo Bowman

Fast Tube by Casper

Order now and have it for Christmas.
Information is available at thelandofrefuge.com or mormoncoloniesinmexico.com

A few years ago I had the opportunity of producing a life documentary of an amazing woman.

She had a remarkable life. She traveled and lived in foreign countries working, teaching and serving. Her and her husband were instrumental in building and operating a large teaching Academy in Mexico City. For three years they lived in Ecuador helping and teaching the people of that country. Many former students acknowledge her and her family for supporting them financially and emotionally. Many credit their success in achieving their goals to her unwavering faith in them. All of this is now documented for her family and friends. All she accomplished remains an invitation to her posterity to live happy productive lives.

In the process of documenting her life I interviewed her children, her siblings, her friends. One morning I traveled to her brother’s home. He had not been well, but he was willing to share their mutual upbringing with me. During the interview, I was equally amazed by this man’s life. He too traveled the world impacting the lives he touched. After the interview his wife asked me about doing a life documentary of him. I readily agreed, after all their early history was already done.

She sadly informed me that years earlier they had been robbed. All of their pictures and video’s were gone. With this information it seemed even more vital to get a visual and oral remembrance of his life. She felt it was important to document what he remembered but wanted to ask her daughters what they thought. I offered the material I had already accumulated and some suggestions.

A few weeks later I contacted this couple again. They had decided to let their daughters do it.

Last year the man died. His daughters had the best of intentions. They also had very busy lives that did not allow the time and energy required to research, interview, document and edit… As a result they have limited sources documenting his voice, his memories, his mannerisms or his essence.

The life of this man is not lost or forgotten. His children still have fond memories of their father, but their posterity could have known him through the stories he might have shared. They could of heard his voice and looked into his eyes to become better acquainted with their grand and great grandfather. They could have enjoyed his sense of humor and learned from his life experiences because he shared it with them and for them. And maybe, just maybe when times get hard, and they always do, his life would be the touchstone to get through them and become a better person because of the journey.

So, don’t wait to document your life. Don’t wait for someone else to do it. So many say, “my life wasn’t anything special.” I disagree. Every life is something special.

This is your life and it counts too.

So just do it.

I have decided to self-study screen writing. I am reading many books on the subject because I am a tad stubborn. When it comes to others getting in my face and telling me how to do things I get my hair in the air and I take it personally.

Who died and put them in charge of knowing all things? Sometimes the discussion turns from gaining knowledge to ‘I can prove you wrong’. Such a waste of energy and time, but massages my pride somehow. Deflecting or projecting seems to distract and I can slither away none the wiser.

So reading allows me to learn and not feel isolated by the teacher pointing their sausage fingers at my evaporating mind while slowly grasping or not grasping the concept, any concept.

It is the feeling or knowledge that the writer slowly, and I believe slyly, introduces me to an idea or thought in a way that makes it mine. I smile smugly and for a moment I think, I am brilliant. This thought or feeling or idea is so clever, original and perfect.

Eventually, I stand and immediately stub my toe. EVERYTIME! Just a little reminder that whoever did die did not put me in charge and never will.

So I get it. Every chapter reinforces the message.

A screenplay is a story told with pictures.

I can do that, because I can read and learn and then do while limping ever so happily along.

This year I have taken the opportunity to research out historical events that relate to freedom, equality and what nations and people have done and continue to do in the name of progress and civility.

There are times where I have had to stop reading and walk away for days and weeks and even months because of the events documented in journals, reports and the memories of those who survived being the impediments of civilized society.

Sometimes it is difficult with these haunting images to find pleasure and even purpose in this life or in relationships that are fragile and ephemeral. History, written and oral, showcase the character of humans. I introspect on my own principals and code of conduct and am fearful with how weak I might be in similar situations and circumstances.

I have come to appreciate the bliss in ignorance.

I also have come to understand better in opportunity. This year is winding down and as we burden ourselves again with the idea and hope and dreams of new beginnings on January 1st, what is true is that new beginnings exist with every moment and with every breath.

The sun continues to provide the energy we all need to thrive. We wake and breathe and live near sighted in what is possible. Some in the most dismal situations find and embrace any opportunity. And if none are present they pursue the whirlwinds and distant mirages until they capture and grasp all they imagine and work until it is real and tangible.

I often experience paralysis at the abundance of opportunities and choices. What if I choose poorly? And the opportunity slips away and it’s absence is, at times, a welcome relief.

Some stand on the shore drowning in apathy and indifference. Excuses abound and ‘yea but’s’ sputter forth floating away on the wind. Age fades youth’s innocence and memory of what could have been and what should have been.

We all have but one life and it is our own to own and live and error and forgive and learn and discover the opportunity that is uniquely ours to imagine, pursue and create.

And maybe in the success of our pursuits the inhuman, unspeakable, unforgettable atrocities would diminish as the creative goodness and genius within all of us is exposed, nurtured and embraced.

Breathe this moment. It is yours for the taking. It is mine.

While we were in Zambia, we took every opportunity to talk with the people and ask them what their lives were like. We wanted to know how they celebrated their joys and how they comforted each other in their sorrows.

We also wanted to know what their dreams were. They weren’t so different than our dreams. The difference is ours have a greater chance of coming true.

Please click to watch and listen to their hopes and dreams. Sometimes hearing others tell of their dreams helps us realize how possible ours are.

I have many moments where I think, “what is the point”? It doesn’t matter what project I am working on, some days I wonder why I ever thought “it” was important or worth my time and energy.

Today I finished a book called THE HELP. As I came closer and closer to the end of the book I became more and more anxious because I knew it was going to end. The characters I had discovered and learned to love, or not love so much, would soon be a memory of my imagination.

However, the lessons those characters learned and by extension, I learned, are still rolling around in my head and in my heart. Ideas and thoughts and feelings have reminded me of values and ideals I value and cherish and want to embody.

How could reading or writing or painting or composing ever be a waste of time? How could I ever think creating does not have a point.

Creating IS the point.

Today I was digitizing a clients HI8 video when I discovered wedding footage for another client. I let her know what I found and she rushed over to view footage she never even knew existed!

I don’t know why I get such a kick out of watching their faces relive their lives. It tickles me.

Unfortunately there is a down side. Some of their tapes are damaged from heat, time or magnet exposure. Seeing their looks of despair is not fun.

Sooooo, don’t wait any longer. Take your clips to any local digitizer and get the job done. You will be glad you did and you will have some fun family moments remembering “the good old days.”

Precious, priceless, possible.

It was March of 2008 when we started this journey with AMAI.

Today, we wrote the ending scene.
AMAZING! Now the fun begins.

Selling this puppy.

But first, I think I will sleep and eat and drink Dr. Pepper.
I hope it is a warm day tomorrow because I’m biking
and swimming and chilling for an entire day!

Want to come have fun in the Arizona sun?

Oh YEA!