11-11 is a divine symbol of rebirth and wake-up call… A clear sign it is time to activate, as a gateway or portal has been opened for transformation… 86 is a symbol of curiosity and liberation, honoring our power to not accept anything that does not ring true to our souls. I mention these numeric symbols as encouragement to lean into this super-powerful moment of reflection we are all in, breaking through old patterns that no longer serve us, as individuals and as a species.
As a filmmaker, storyteller, and artist, I am so excited to illuminate the completion of a very important cycle… Today, on 11/11, we are 86 days away from the 100 year birth-date of United Artists…In other words, artists uniting, in order to create the first-ever distribution company independent from the studio system… The roots of that wise, old tree spread rapidly as the foundation to inspire, cultivate, support, and embrace the spirit of independent thinking and creativity and the mother of the movement was named Mary Pickford…
This brings me to the metaphysical connection between artist and muse, a mutual, symbiotic exchange…I am the artist channeling Mary, the muse, and I am also the muse, to her artist… As I see the world through Mary’s eyes, in order to tell her story authentically, I am able to see myself in her, as her, walking through an altered version of the same drama. … And, truly, there is no beginning, as I am certain, she saw the world through my eyes…Of course, Mary, such a visionary, dreamt of who would be channeling her journey, just as I dream of her… My editor, Aleya, said that in 100 years, someone will tell the story of my telling Mary’s and that rang true. Ode to cycles!
A gifted medium I took to Mary’s grave told me that Mary wants the world to know that money, to her, represents love and that her fight for higher pay was not about the money itself but what it stood for… It was in honor of Mary stepping into her own power, accepting that her worth, as a being, had no price… Thus, if we are priceless, then why not go for the gold? She knew that with resources, she could take care of her family, become an incredible humanitarian, support emerging and struggling artists, and continue to give from her heart. She birthed Hollywood from that frequency. When I think of Hollywood, I feel the reverberation …Holly….wood… Holly sounds like holy, to heal, wholly, or whole and wood is earth, roots, grounded, mother energy…
My mission is delivering this message: Why Not Choose Love? on Mary’s behalf, to pick up where she left off… This process is about wholeness, the integration of masculine and feminine, the doer and receiver, the producer and the artist, in essence… We are all of it, each one of us. We design our own realities with our thoughts. Mary called the key to happiness “right thinking.”
Someone on NPR asked how Mary would feek about the Me Too movement. My true sense is that she understood that stepping out publicly to express personal trauma could be a piece of the healing process but to truly heal comes from rising above victimhood. Yes, let’s embrace our unique voices 100% and do not diminish that… But, let’s set the intention as forgiveness, holistic health, love for all beings of the ecosystem, including the cosmos, of which we are made from… Our connection is not politics, gender, race, age or identity at all… It is humanity, breath, life force, earth, universe, abundance, love…. I breathe out the air you breathe in, a never-ending cycle, like artist and muse… There is no judgment toward one honing and owning their identity but at some point, should come the awareness of the human experience being a play or a movie or art that we are acting out… We are archetypes dancing through cycles constantly and we are here to play together…
The cinematic art form was considered a peep hole into reality, a dissolution of ego, and a sacred storytelling endeavor that added value to lives through characters larger than life. Mary embodied over 200 characters, of countless ages and ethnicities and transcended gender, too. There is a responsibility that goes into the ritual of passing along wisdom through stories. We should be portraying messages to expand consciousness, elevate people’s worth, empower to overcome hardship, and to connect through the simplicity of just being. Someone in Brazil once asked me “why does America constantly blow themselves up on screen?” I had no answer. That was not Mary’s way. Mary’s mission for United Artists was to be in control of the craft and the money, both symbols of love… And, as love, to push artists to explore the playground of the medium and allow the landscape to breathe, to never stagnate, or lose it’s edge and questioning nature.
When Mary started on camera, to be an actor, was considered barely a step above prostitution. Actors didn’t even have their names in the credits. Mary spearheaded the movement of giving credit to the performers. She felt the contractions of birthing a medium. She earned more than all financially, male and female, by 1919. She negotiated her own contracts. She stopped to talk to people on the streets and accidentally became famous. Her audience for a long time was purely immigrants and poor people and to her, that was an honor. Mary had the first publicly scrutinized love affair in Hollywood but it was love and she stood by her heart and they became beloved. In looking at where we are today, all roads lead back to Mary Pickford but yet very few know that pillar exists. This is vital, not just for those involved in the storytelling fields, but for all of us as the designers of our own lives, all with the potential to be conscious cultivators of our greatest heart’s desires …
In honor of these powerful vibrational messages, bow to the 11-11 moon, all about planting seeds for the future, allowing our roots to take hold in the earth below us in order to create new… Roots are anchors, gripping tightly into the Mother (Earth, forming a symbiotic union with the earth, drawing from her various nutrients and water…. We can take comfort in the simple fact that we do not have to revolutionize anything in Hollywood, the powerful construct that should be a beautiful kaleidoscope of awakening for all… All we have to do is lift the veil and find the mother… Her name is Mary. Why Not Choose Love?