“I Am” screening brings a community together

Philosopher Mark Doorley leads the group in a post film discussion

We generally keep a pretty low profile during the summer to allow us some down time to recover from a hectic year of programming and to gather steam for the coming season. We take a break from Green Drinks for July and August and keep our event planning to a minimum. This summer, we added a film series and repeated the successful warm weather book club, organized by our Green Health Task Force.

On Thursday evening, about 65 people joined us at the Croft Farm Arts Center for a screening of I AM . This documentary poses two practical and provocative questions- What’s wrong with our world and What can we do about it? I AM is the story of a successful Hollywood director, Tom Shadyac, who experienced a life threatening head injury and his ensuing journey to answer these two questions. With a small film crew, Tom visited some of today’s great minds, including authors, poets, teachers, religious leaders and scientists searching for the fundamental endemic problem that causes all of the other problems, while simultaneously reflecting on his own life of excess, greed and eventual healing.

Friend and philosopher, Mark Doorley, lead a discussion with the group to help us process and share our reactions to the film. Attendees expressed a range of emotions and opinions, ranging from hope to frustration. Most felt grateful to have an opportunity to explore provocative issues like this in a communal forum and many new connections were made.

Some comments:

“I frustrated and afraid that as a society, we won’t make the shift in time to change the destructive path we are on.”
“I’m feeling more hopeful knowing that so many others are out there working on and thinking of similar ways of being.”
“All we need is for 51% of the people to ‘get it’ and the shift will be huge.”
“Read Lynn McTaggert’s The Field” and “See ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’.”
“I’m worried about all the developing countries who are emulating our destructive western culture.”
And much more…

We hope you will join us for our second film, WALL-E on Thursday, August 9th at the Croft Farm Arts Center in Cherry Hill. This 2008 Disney/Pixar movie is great for people of all ages as it entertains and provokes us simultaneously! This is another FREE event held in partnership with Cherry Hill Township and ALL are invited.