Pamela Jo Bowman

This little being was born 52 years ago at 7:45 a.m. Today as she made a wish on 52 candles she thought, what would it be like if just once a year at the exact moment one was born one could make a wish and it really would come true. Hmmmm, interesting premise to think about.

This week-end I watched THE INSIDER with Al Pacino. It was based on a true story about the tobacco industry and how 60 Minutes’ reputation was tarnished over how they chose to NOT disclose all that they knew to protect jobs, theirs and by extension the tobaccos. Mike Wallace was asked why he allowed this to occur. In the movie, he said something like, ‘it doesn’t matter about all the good things you might have done in your life, what people remember is the last thing you did.’ I might add people seem to always remember the worst things as well.

So at 52 I am contemplating that thought. Someone once asked why I gave a rip about what others thought. And yet I do and if you are honest at all you will recognize that you do as well. I look at this little girl who I once was. I have been told I was a very happy baby. Well, you can tell I was well fed! What I believe is she didn’t give a rip….yet. AND, she was happy! Double AND, her being authentic quite naturally made others happy too! I think I miss her. Now, some who know me might say I don’t act like I care too much about what people think. What my wish this year is to care what SHE thinks. At the end of my life that is what will matter most to me anyway.

In the mean time, Thanks to all who were kind enough to extend birthday wishes today. I appreciate being remembered. Always nice to hear and read what you are thinking.

( I crack myself up!)

This last year we had a client celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They planned a celebration in the White Mountains with 50 of their closest friends. We were to spend the weekend capturing the three-day event and provide a video to the participants to commemorate their participation. Prior to the event, we were asked to assemble a video about their married years for the opening ceremony. We scoured their photographs and home movies for images that revealed the core of their relationship … and with the new age for video recording, most people have an excess of footage! They were not an exception.

I came across a piece of footage that touched me deeply. I found myself in tears as I watched this interchange between life partners. I imagine the moment took place on a lazy Sunday morning or perhaps in the late hours when the world is locked behind the door.

They were in the privacy of the room they share together. You never see the husband. But he holds the camera steady and attentively, for what will be a 10-minute long narration. As he was filming her she turns. I can see in her eyes the determination, but I also sense her vulnerability and her need to just be heard. She asks.

“Do you want to hear a story? I have this story in my head. Do you want to hear it?” The man apparently nods because she looked at him and smiled ever so slightly then sat on their bed and delved into this story, this idea, this thought without reservation or fear or doubt.

My tears flowed as I witnessed, what was to me, the raw intimacy that exists between trusted individuals who are sharing more than time and space, but their most sacred parts of themselves, their thoughts, their feelings, their souls.

Sharing self. Amazing.