I’ve always felt a sense of wonder can happen as a chance appearance, but when it is courted then the surprises of synchronicity and lightness of being are second to none. Wonderful memories last because they can be adored, like integral yet perpetually transformative constants, in a special jewel box of the mind.
Bobette Buster, at a recent seminar,* relayed proof that wonder can intentionally be transmitted in any field of creativity, on any occasion, causing a shift of higher consciousness. ‘This is wonder’s use,’ she emphasised. Although Bobette gave many examples in her own field of film making, her summary – believe me, storytelling at its finest – brought both tears as well as radiating after-effects of what it means to ‘carry the fire.’ Here’s a very short version:
During the two years spent in the Secret Annex’s stillness, Anne Frank treasured several iconic photos of glamour, hope and beauty. Among her favourites of these companions-on-paper, inspiring Anne to continue writing, was Sonja Henie, champion figure-skater and film starlet.
Sonja Henie in My Lucky Star, 20th Century Fox film, 1938
The photographers themselves, through their invisible presences, also became part of Anne’s world: conveying via artistry that transubstantiation becomes experientially realised through visual templates. The baton of courage is passed to you.
And with it, may I add, the wand of wonder.
*What’s the Story? The Uses of Wonder: Ask the Right Questions of Your Story 8 August 2019, State Library, Melbourne. It was one of 5 sessions Bobette gave as a guest of the Melbourne International Film Festival. LA-based, she is a story consultant, professor, producer, author, lecturer and screenwriter working with Disney, Pixar and Twentieth Century Fox. http://www.bobettebuster.com/
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