This uplifting journey of capturing video stories of people with a passion making a difference in their communities will be ending in the next couple of weeks–11,500 miles and 43 interviews done. I am heading south towards home with 12 more interviews to do and nearly 2000 miles more to go.
People ask me about my favorite stories or how have I learned about the ones that I am doing. The first answer is that there really are no favorites as each is different in its appeal to heart and intellect and each has an importance in transforming our society from one that is too focused on money, materialism and hyper-individualism to one that is truly caring and compassionate about our humanity and greater community of life that includes the planet itself.
How would you choose? The person who grew up in a family of 10 on the Mississippi Delta that received gifts of food from blues musicians and later became a key figure in the rising creative economy in Mississippi that itself was sparked by the global recognition of the Blues OR the person who as head of the National College & University Food Services Association is changing the corporate orientation of collegiate food services from corporate to local through Farm to College Programs that has already demonstrated a huge and healthy impact on state wide farms and pastures when done at the University of Montana OR the person who founded the public banking movement with initiatives in 20 states for state banks whose shareholders are its citizens and through dividends and loans build infrastructure and healthy communities OR the person whose daughter was murdered years ago and is living the truth that peace begins with one’s own heart–he forgave her killer and now through his compassion helps violent offenders in prison with no chance of being freed find their own humanity?
Finding the stories is an on-going adventure for me. I began with my own knowledge of folks from working nationally in the field of sustainability, through my contacts with YES! magazine and their authors of grassroots people making a difference and through stories in the New York Times. Some came to me through friends at home, who pinned names on the map of the United States at my pre-journey planning party. Others have come out of interviews with people on the road, who refer me to their friends and contacts that they know. Others are just plain lucky as the one I am doing tomorrow with the 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Non Fiction and environmental scientist Dan Fagin, author of Toms River: A Story of Science & Salvation, who just happens to live in my hometown and was mentioned to me by my sister, Peggy.
My personal process on this trip has been one of healing from the death of my husband due to Alzheimer’s in June and one of growth in self-confidence in not only driving but in knowing that I can rely on me when the going gets a bit tough. But, let’s keep in mind that this is not truly a tough journey. I am traveling in the United States, a place with little likelihood of terrorist bombs, good flushing toilets, drinkable water—mostly, where I speak the language fairly well, and have at my side a pretty well functioning GPS and cell phone.
On this trip, I also seem to be in the flow that some people write about because when something goes wrong, there is just at the right moment the right person or place to get done what I need to have done. Someone described it to me as a roller coaster of despair and miracle….I like that.
Most of all, though, this trip has replenished a deep well of gratitude for the people in my life. Some are people that I have rediscovered after years of not being in contact like my childhood friends; others are friends of friends who just took me in and cared for me; others like Lorna, who believed in me and gave financial resources through her company Premier Eye Care; others like my interviewees who trusted me to share their stories with respect and caring; and others who just love me enough to take me in stride and to support me no matter what. Thank you.
When I get home I will spend the next few weeks doing the first cut in editing the stories and then George Sherman, who has worked on videos with me through the Earth Charter US for years will do the final cut. We’ll be uploading them to www.operationbonappetit.org in a Magazine of Video Stories format so people can pick and choose which ones they are interested in to spark dinner party conversations that enlighten and maybe even engage their friends. I’ll also share them with the many networks of the people that I have interviewed, YES! Magazine and others. We will be announcing their availability through a Fun and Fantastic Launch Party, of course!!
This entire undertaking seemed to be just short of madness. Many might have said the same of a certain and now famous trans ocean adventure in 1492. But the world is not flat, and for those who are willing to risk much, perhaps all, there are rewards. As caring friends, we are both relieved and delighted to have played a very small supporting role in this odyssey. We praise all who helped in so many ways and we looked forward to the product of Jan’s enormous effort.