Like angels
Tiny glimmers of all we are
Dear universe (dear film angels), here I go, I’m loading this film into my camera. I promise to bring my openness, my curiosity, my ability to notice, my technical expertise, my sense of story and color and light and play. I trust you to do the rest. Help me. Guide me. Show me what I couldn’t see the first time. Make it like magic! We’ll figure out meaning later. You are in charge of the quality. Maybe neither of us is in charge of whether people like it or not. But either way, I promise to do my part fully: to show up and give my everything and to create. —JG (with thanks to Cami Turpin for introducing me to this idea)
Light trickles in, honey on ice,
whiskey on the rocks
trust
f
a
l
l
the earth, the moon
two tipsy acrobats: eyes, bodies locked
besotted they spill
she with too much finesse,
too many flourishes
no matter how many times
she does this–
he catches her
a beat too late,
pretending steady
she waits in the air, giggling,
oblivious to his adjustments,
knowing he is strong
in the beginning
they’d rehearsed with masks
fantasy, lights, a musical score
enough to impress
their audience
of two
now things are simpler
with no nets, the floor is harder
with no ropes, the plunge is real
but it’s worth it: to leap, to soar
to
f
a
l
l
to catch,
to be caught
and, if their act doesn’t work out,
well,
that’s gravity.
I have been playing around a lot lately with film, and I’m having a good time. I love how visual art allows me to explore themes and ideas without getting tripped up on words. I expect more from myself as a writer than I do from myself as a visual artist. As a result, one is consistently more fun for me to pursue than the other. (Can you guess which one…?)
Most everything I’m working on lately feels like a rough sketch, a draft. No matter what, though, I try to do something creative every day. This is what makes me feel most alive, most myself and most part of the world and the flow of the universe. I learned from a writing mentor that “everything is part of writing,” not just the time spent sitting down putting words on the page. And I love that idea for all creative things. I think we live our lives as artists and the products we eventually make and share with the world as our “art” are just tiny glimmers of all we are.
And sometimes those rough drafts and sketches offer just enough light to keep us curious, to keep us in awe, to keep us going— like angels guiding us along the way.
Love,
Jaime
Conversations with the universe is a weekly Substack on play, process, spirit, and the dialogue between creation and inspiration. Featuring original creative writing by Jaime Greenberg—with words (flash fiction, poetry) and light (photography: self-portraiture, storytelling, experimental).