The Life Drive Newsletter October 2013

the life drive

a triangle has three directions, each asking for a decision. it can exist even without this decision. life is made of thousands of such triangles. choices. interests. abilities. d rivers. values. responsibilities. sor t out these triangles. direct them. know, develop and express. create a whole, one, integrated - you. exist versus create. the dif ference is the life drive.

Design: www.rahulinamdar.com Year 1, Volume 8 http://www.scribd.com/collections/4337433/Life-Drive-Newsletter shaileshdesh@gmail.com

The Life Drive Newsletter October 2013

Never ending dream : An essay by Ang Lee

Introductory Note: The American film director, Ang Lees work has brought him the best of international accolades including the Best Director - Oscar (In 2005 for Brokeback Mountain and in 2012 for Life of Pi ). The essay enclosed below was written by Ang Lee after his first Oscar win and talks about his interesting journey. (Translated into English by to Irene Shih) This essay highlights the importance of not giving up the pursuit of what is core to us. It also reminds us, that there are no guarantees nothing and no one can ever assure us that such pursuits will necessarily provide us time bound success. Either ways, we need to make a choice and accept the complete personal responsibility for the implications. In 1978, as I applied to study film at the University of Illinois, my father vehemently objected. He quoted me a statistic: Every year, 50,000 performers compete for 200 available roles on Broadway. Against his advice, I boarded a flight to the U.S. This strained our relationship. In the two decades following, we exchanged less than a hundred phrases in conversation. Some years later, when I graduated film school, I came to comprehend my fathers concern. It was nearly unheard of for a Chinese newcomer to make it in the American film industry. Beginning in 1983, I struggled through six years of agonizing, hopeless uncertainty. Much of the time, I was helping film crews with their equipment or working as editors assistant, among other miscellaneous duties. My most painful experience involved shopping a screenplay at more than thirty different production companies, and being met with harsh rejection each time.

Year 1, Volume 8 http://www.scribd.com/collections/4337433/Life-Drive-Newsletter

shaileshdesh@gmail.com

The Life Drive Newsletter October 2013

That year, I turned 30. Theres an old Chinese saying: At 30, one stands firm. Yet, I couldnt even support myself. What could I do? Keep waiting, or give up my movie-making dream? My wife gave me invaluable support. My wife was my college classmate. She was a biology major, and after graduation, went to work for a small pharmaceutical research lab. Her income was terribly modest. At the time, we already had our elder son, Haan, to raise. To appease my own feelings of guilt, I took on all housework cooking, cleaning, taking care of our son in addition to reading, reviewing films and writing scripts. Every evening after preparing dinner, I would sit on the front steps with Haan, telling him stories as we waited for his mother the heroic huntress to come home with our sustenance (income). This kind of life felt rather undignified for a man. At one point, my in-laws gave their daughter (my wife) a sum of money, intended as start-up capital for me to open a Chinese restaurant hoping that a business would help support my family. But my wife refused the money. When I found out about this exchange, I stayed up several nights and finally decided: This dream of mine is not meant to be. I must face reality. Afterward (and with a heavy heart), I enrolled in a computer course at a nearby community college. At a time when employment trumped all other considerations, it seemed that only a knowledge of computers could quickly make me employable. For the days that followed, I descended into malaise. My wife, noticing my unusual demeanor, discovered a schedule of classes tucked in my bag. She made no comment that night. The next morning, right before she got in her car to head off to work, my wife turned back and standing there on our front steps said, Ang, dont forget your dream. And that dream of mine drowned by demands of reality came back to life. As my wife drove off, I took the class schedule out of my bag and slowly, deliberately tore it to pieces. And tossed it in the trash. Sometime after, I obtained funding for my screenplay, and began to shoot my own films. And after that, a few of my films started to win international awards. Recalling earlier times, my wife confessed, Ive always believed that you only need one gift. Your gift is making films. There are so many people studying computers already, they dont need an Ang Lee to do that. If you want that golden statue, you have to commit to the dream. And today, Ive finally won that golden statue. I think my own perseverance and my wifes immeasurable sacrifice have finally met their reward. And I am now more assured than ever before: I must continue making films. You see, I have this never-ending dream.

--------------

Year 1, Volume 8 http://www.scribd.com/collections/4337433/Life-Drive-Newsletter

shaileshdesh@gmail.com

The Life Drive Newsletter October 2013

You Are Responsible : Sacred Space from Times of India

Year 1, Volume 8 http://www.scribd.com/collections/4337433/Life-Drive-Newsletter

shaileshdesh@gmail.com

The Life Drive Newsletter October 2013

About The Life Drive Newsletter

This newsletter is meant for someone who is interested in improving his or her w ork on own Journey of Personal Growth. I believe that that this Journey is about becoming the best that you can be and expressing yourself in a manner that is most meaningful to you. Each one of us has two inbuilt and perpetual drives that influence all that we do The Life Drive inspires us to create new things, seek out our true selves and engage with external world with zest and affection. At the same time, The Death Drive within us scares us, makes us harm ourselves, makes us find comfort in the lazy status quo and gets us to look at external world and other people with suspicion and violence. The Death Drive within us does anything and everything it can do to stop and derail our Journey of Personal Growth. To succeed in its objective, the Death Drive throws many traps at us, such as convincing us that the problem is not within but outside us and convincing us that the comfortable life of status quo is better than risking the challenges of self-exploration and selfexpression. How well, and whether at all we progress on this Journey is entirely dependent on whether we constantly honor our Life Drive by giving life to newer expressions of our core self and whether we succeed in defeating that enemy within ( The Death Drive) every day. Nobody and nothing outside of us can make us do this - it can happen if and only if we take complete personal responsibility of staying true to our precious and sacred Life Drive. This newsletter is meant to be a small reminder- that hopefully will make each of us take a pause and ask this question to ourselves: Did I truly honor my Life Drive today?

The Life Drive Newsletter is circulated every month. In case you wish to add someone to the circulation list, please send me his or her email address. The older editions of the newsletter (from March 2013) are available at :

http://www.scribd.com/collections/4337433/Life-Drive-Newsletter
Your comments and feedback on the Newsletter are most welcome. You can reach me at shaileshdesh@gmail.com

Year 1, Volume 8 http://www.scribd.com/collections/4337433/Life-Drive-Newsletter

shaileshdesh@gmail.com