Summary

The author of the website content describes how watching the movie "A Ghost Story" inspired them to develop their trilogy of myths into a television series, leading to a re-evaluation of their past creative work as foundational to this new project.

Abstract

The author had envisioned their trilogy of myths as future books and films but was uncertain about attending a screenwriting retreat. The experience led to a shift in perspective, realizing that their personal stories, when interwoven with the myths, would be best conveyed through a television series rather than a film. This epiphany came after watching "A Ghost Story," which provided a visual and emotional blueprint for the author's desired on-screen atmosphere. The author then began to map out their stories on a wall, using post-it notes, and recognized that their previous decade of creative work was actually preparation for this project. The author also describes a ritual to heal internal conflicts about value and mentions an ancestral altar and the symbolic placement of lilies, which are connected to the series' first episode and their partner's spirit guide.

Opinions

The author values trust in the cycles of time and resists external pressures to rush or measure their creative process.
They sought a creative environment that fosters mutual inspiration and support, which they found at the screenwriting retreat.
The author initially hesitated to share their work prematurely, fearing undue influence from others.
They believe in the interconnectedness of people, experiences, and places, which is reflected in the non-linear, non-chronological structure of their stories.
The author sees their past creative endeavors as stepping stones towards their current project, despite previous self-judgment for not achieving traditional markers of success.
They feel a spiritual connection to their work and the guidance they receive, as evidenced by the creation of an ancestral altar and the significance of the lilies in their studio space.
The author is open to learning and incorporating new elements, such as the language of flowers, into their storytelling process.

How the movie “Ghost Story” Inspired me

Seeing I’m Exactly Where I’m Meant to Be

author’s own image. 1st layer of green tara painting.

I had always seen the trilogy of myths I created becoming a set of books and films. But I thought the films were far in the future, that they’d be created after the books somehow became well-known enough for filmmakers to seek me out. A dream…

But last year, I was guided to attend a screenwriting retreat with a beloved friend. I was uncertain.

The trilogy emphasizes trusting the cycles of time, and not rushing or measuring ourselves against an external norm.

I didn’t want to prematurely share my work with others and unintentionally be influenced by their views.

I didn’t want to be jumping ahead, pressuring, or limiting myself with “industry standards” before I had even begun to dream.

I hoped for the kind of mutual inspiration and support that inspires creativity and provides clarity. Happily, that is what I experienced.

I immediately felt connected with the teachers and other participants, who were at different levels of experience and stages with their work.

zora- a talented actress and screenwriter — and me.

I returned home with the clarity that my personal story, juxtaposed with the myths, would best be told as a television series. I never would have come up with this on my own as I’d always felt more naturally inclined towards film than tv.

But, the more I thought about the forms available to me, and the breadth of stories I wanted to tell, the more it made sense to have more space for the story, and more time for viewers to digest it.

My plan was to have an outline of the entire series and a script for the pilot episode written in a month.

author’s own image. 1st layer of womb of incarnation painting.

As I began to try to map out my real-life personal stories with the myths, I realized that I’d already written many of these stories- in the form of email letters.

And then, for some reason, I wasn’t motivated to go any further. This was last October.

Last week, I watched ‘A Ghost Story.’ I loved the way the film was captured… the light, the pace, the spaciousness.

It was the first time I could see what I wanted my myths on the screen to feel like. I was totally re-inspired to share my stories through the screen.

I remembered that the teachers of the writing retreat had suggested I use an entire wall to make a huge map, so I could see how the stories interwove with each other.

The stories reveal our eternal nature and the interconnectedness of people, experiences and places, so the structure isn’t necessarily linear or chronological.

I needed to be able to see everything before I could decide how it would all fit together.

author’s own image. green tara painting layer.

To have a clear wall to work with, I moved two paintings that were in process (faces of green tara and a womb of incarnation painting). Then I started filling in post-it notes and sticking them on the wall.

author’s own image. womb of incarnation painting layer.

It felt so good to have a place to put all these ideas! A home for the stories.

I could suddenly see that all that I’d been creating the last decade was building the foundation for this project.

While I’d been judging myself for not ‘making good money’ and ‘not producing anything tangible’ (I’d published and performed here and there, but nothing consistent- I hadn’t felt I was building towards anything),

I’d actually been taking the steps necessary to eventually share these stories with the world.

Like the golden queen, planting a seed one day at a time, building a path of jewels that seems to lead nowhere….

I could see that everything I’d been working on was an element of this project- that is large enough to encompass it all.

— — — — — — — —

This new inspiration came a few days after a ritual in which I’d asked for support to heal the internal split I’d carried between internal and external value (the belief that my internal value cannot be reflected in the outer world).

I’ve been connecting and receiving more guidance from my ancestors and recently transformed the dining room into a living ancestral altar to connect more with the unseen members of my family.

There was a bunch of artificial lilies in the corner that kept bothering me. They were too big for the space.

So the other day (the same day I was inspired to work on the script), I thought I would move them into a storage area.

Instead, I was guided to place it in the middle of my studio space. I thought this was odd, and very inconvenient as I would have to keep walking around it to reach my paintings and the story map.

But seeing the lilies in the center of the room like that, they suddenly looked beautiful to me…like a blessing of abundance, an offering.

And the shape and color echoed the shamanic womb painting that was now against the sofa (having been moved to make room for my story map).

I was shown that each episode of the series would have a particular flower spirit associated with it. Lily is the flower spirit of Episode 1.

I don’t know what that means yet. I’m still learning the language of flowers.

What I do know is that lily is also the spirit guide of my partner, Tony.

I connected with her as we co-created his home into “The Sanctuary of Beauty.”

The myth about the moon- which will be interwoven with the first few episodes of the series- is about true beauty! (…” beauty is that which must be lived…”)

I look forward to discovering more about her message as I continue to work on the script.