http://johntmarohn.com/blog/international-film/friendship-a-transformational-narrative/ Tue, 08 May 2012 02:42:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://johntmarohn.com/blog/international-film/friendship-a-transformational-narrative/comment-page-1/#comment-66 Les Nyiri Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:01:23 +0000 http://johntmarohn.com/blog/?p=126#comment-66 Genuine friendship can be a very powerful force, as can any deep connection between persons. Through this engagement with another person, new dimensions of life can open up. In over 30 years of working with the indigent, the homeless, addicts, and the mentally ill and becoming empathically engaged with them, my understanding of life has undergone many transformations. To me, this process is of invaluable importance. As we move through this process we become more deeply aware of what life is about and, at the same time, become more deeply involved in life itself. It can break us free from a narrow egocentric perspective. As an addendum, the book "The Soloist" by Steve Lopez is an example of this. Steve becomes involved with a homeless schizophrenic musician. At first he just wanted a story but then a friendship eventually developed which changed both their lives significantly. Perhaps many of our societal problems today are due to the fact that many people do not take the time to know one another but communicate through clichés. Genuine friendship can be a very powerful force, as can any deep connection between persons. Through this engagement with another person, new dimensions of life can open up. In over 30 years of working with the indigent, the homeless, addicts, and the mentally ill and becoming empathically engaged with them, my understanding of life has undergone many transformations. To me, this process is of invaluable importance. As we move through this process we become more deeply aware of what life is about and, at the same time, become more deeply involved in life itself. It can break us free from a narrow egocentric perspective.
As an addendum, the book “The Soloist” by Steve Lopez is an example of this. Steve becomes involved with a homeless schizophrenic musician. At first he just wanted a story but then a friendship eventually developed which changed both their lives significantly.
Perhaps many of our societal problems today are due to the fact that many people do not take the time to know one another but communicate through clichés.

]]> http://johntmarohn.com/blog/international-film/friendship-a-transformational-narrative/comment-page-1/#comment-64 Rodrigo Amaro Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:18:00 +0000 http://johntmarohn.com/blog/?p=126#comment-64 I didn't watched any of these films but they seem very foccused on showing the differences between people and its cultures. "Sometimes in April" looks very similar to "Munyurangabo" also covering the Hutu and Tutsi war. These kinds of story based on true events are very important to be telled, they move us, they shock us, but at the same time we must be intrigued: How come mankind still never learned how to respect each other? Many cultures wants to preserve the past saying that we must not forget horrible things like the Holocaust so that they never be repeated again. Watching movies like "Schindler's List" or "Rosewood" can make those things but if we look to the 21st Century and its difficult times we must ask ourselves: what do we learn? I don't know how to answer because I don't see many differences. We're still live in a world of wars and misunderstanding between one for another. I hope that this reality might change someday. I didn’t watched any of these films but they seem very foccused on showing the differences between people and its cultures. “Sometimes in April” looks very similar to “Munyurangabo” also covering the Hutu and Tutsi war. These kinds of story based on true events are very important to be telled, they move us, they shock us, but at the same time we must be intrigued: How come mankind still never learned how to respect each other? Many cultures wants to preserve the past saying that we must not forget horrible things like the Holocaust so that they never be repeated again. Watching movies like “Schindler’s List” or “Rosewood” can make those things but if we look to the 21st Century and its difficult times we must ask ourselves: what do we learn? I don’t know how to answer because I don’t see many differences. We’re still live in a world of wars and misunderstanding between one for another. I hope that this reality might change someday.

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