It Takes a Village and Credit Where Credit is Due

Very hard to see the string of life that connects us all to everyone else. Hard to see that it "takes a village" for good things to happen, as well as bad.

SM Sunset

In light of the recent events in San Bernardino, it's hard to see any sense from something that's so painful or diffcult to wrap our minds around. How does all this pain and suffering relate to our current journey in life? It takes a village for these kinds of events to occur - looking the other way, watching someone you know purchase tons of ammo (His father is quoted as saying "When I saw my son with a gun, I said "In 45 years in America, I never needed a gun" to which his son replied "Your loss." Obviously he'd been angry for awhile.) It takes a village for these events to occur, from the indiscriminate drone strikes to the angry woman who seeks revenge, to the person selling tons of ammo to anyone who wants it, to the postman who delivers it and doesn't care why.  

It's hard to examine why events like these occur on a spiritual level, but it behooves us to look at the research.

I'm fond of writing "Well, I don't know why this person acted this way because I'm not in his or her soul group."  (You'd have to have read "Flipside" and "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" to allow me that point of view, and apologies to those of you who have not.  It doesn't come lightly.) In my research people report previous lifetimes where tragic events occurred, but from a soul perspective they talk about how and why they signed up to participate in them.

I can tell you that in the transcripts of the over 25 sessions I've filmed and documented, there are many tales of people remembering difficult, painful previous lives, and they discuss "why" they chose them - and even when they said they chose that lifetime, they observe that perhaps it was more difficult than they thought.

For example my pal Howard Schultz (television producer) did a between life session some years ago.  And in it he remembered a lifetime where he was a young Jewish girl living in Denmark, who was deporated and sent to die in Dachau.  He was asked why he chose such a difficult lifetime and he said "to experience the dark."  He said that he'd had so many lifetimes that were filled with light, it was important for him "to remember the dark" and that he'd agreed to partipate in that dark period.   

Howard on a panel

However, he said, it had altered him in a profound way - he said that the events were so dark, that it had "scorched his soul."  The hypnotherapist (Scott De Tamble, lightbetweenlives.com) asked him if there was any way to help him with that wound.  Howard said "They're taking me to the "river of souls" and I'm walking out into it, and I'm being healed by it."  

I'd never heard of anyone describing a river during these sessions, much less a river of souls - but I understood what Howard was trying to express.  That by walking into that river, he was able to sooth and heal a psychic wound.

Unfortunately for those who knew him, Howard passed away suddenly a year ago.  The tributes to his life and journey have been nothing shy of amazing, as he moved and touched many people he worked with.  He also observed during his between life session another reason he had named his company "lighthearted entertainment" - as it helped "bring people into the light through laughter."

What about someone who hasn't had one of those sessions, and yet is able to affect people in a profound way?

I heard of one such instance this past weekend.  About six months ago, a close friend was outside a Whole Foods grocery store in our hometown of Santa Monica and witnessed a homeless man being arrested for "stealing food."  

She instantly saw what the problem was - this man was hungry and couldn't afford to pay for the basic foods he had lifted.  On the spot she asked if she could pay for them.  But the store manager said "no" as the police had already been called.  She pleaded with the officer to let him go, but the officer said it was "out of his hands."  He had to arrest the guy and bring him downtown.

(My friend had experienced what being arrested was about - she had once been arrested during a protest to save trees in our hometown, and the brutality of the prison guard, who wouldn't let her use the restroom or make a call for six hours was traumatic.) So she did her best to stop this process from happening, and when it happened anyway, she took to the telephone to protest.

She called the store manager who told her to call corporate headquarters.  And at Whole Foods corporate headquarters she got someone who was sympathetic, but really couldn't do anything to change this particular case.  However, she thanked her for making the call and said "If anything like this comes up again, please give me a call."

This past weekend, there was the annual Christmas event at the Veterans Hospital here in Santa Monica. And one of her co-workers was organizing it, but suddenly got off the phone and said that for some reason they had lost their sponsor, and the event was happening in only a few days and they lost a sponsor!  

Annual Xmas event at the VA in West LA

So she remembered this woman's words, got her on the phone, and quickly Whole Foods took over the sponsorship, and supplied 3000 items (for free) to these veterans and their families who attended the event in Santa Monica.

When I heard the story, I said "that's amazing that you did that for these people."  She said, "Oh I didn't do it.  I just made a phone call to the people who did it."

Ah, but that's the point.

It takes a village to help someone.  It takes a village to hurt someone.  But if you do that one gesture, that one thing that will help another person today, that's the kind of healing and helping hand we all need.  It required that poor homeless guy to steal some food (she paid for it anyway) so that she could make that call to find that person who would later become the sponsor.  The woman even said "We plan these events at least a couple of years in advance, but because it's for Veterans, we'll step in."

So credit where credit is due.

That woman is my dear wife, mother of our two kids; Sherry.  And she made some people very happy this weekend, but won't take credit for it.  However, she deserves to be applauded for her efforts. If she hadn't tried to save that homeless fellow, she wouldn't have the woman's phone number. 

Sherry not taking credit.

It does take a village, but at least one villager has to step up.

In Praise of Rod Taylor and Howard Schultz

It's been a busy week in the Flipside.  A number of pals of mine have stepped off stage, from the reality TV Producer and pal Howard Schultz, to the great actor and star of my film Point of Betrayal Rod Taylor.

Howard was a unique individual.  

Photo from Variety

He grew up down the block from me in Northbrook, Illinois, in a unique stone house that sat at the end of our long street.  Some years later, Howard agreed to do a between life hypnotherapy session for me for my "Flipside" project.

During his session, which appears in the book under the chapter heading "THE SOUL RIVER" Howard (as "Steven" in the book - I offer anonymity to everyone who is in the book, as their hypnotherapy sessions reveal usually more than anyone wants to admit, but with Howard's blessing, no reason to keep that a secret now) began by going back in time during his life.  And at some point, he was talking about playing "Kick the Can" in his backyard, with his beloved dog, the sound of cicadas calling through the summer night.  

It's my childhood as well, and so unique to be 50 years older, listening to my neighbor describe events that happened to me as well. It also served as a verification of sorts, that Howard's memories of this lifetime were accurate, because I'd had the same ones.

It was his previous lifetime that gave me pause.  He quickly remembered being a young child in a country in Europe during World War II.  And after describing a kind of fearful existence with troops running around outside, and the parents hiding the children from them, Howard remembered dying in Dachau.  Literally remembered the moment of standing over a pit of bodies and being shot in the head.

I was startled.  Even when he said the word "Dachau" in reference to being asked "Where are you?" he said it as they say it over in Germany.  That hard CH sound, that even as he said it, reminded me of my trip there in my 20's when I was going to school in Italy.  A dark, drab place to be sure, but here my friend was reliving that awful moment in that awful place.

In the between life portion Howard lightened up.  He spoke of how he normally had lifetimes that were "filled with light" and "filled with laughter."  Even as he spoke about them, the odd coincidence that he had named his company "Lighthearted" took on new meaning for me, and for him as well.  He had many lifetimes where he was light hearted, or that the light from that realm filled him with memories of unconditional love.

And at some point, Howard spoke of how that lifetime in Dachau had "scorched his soul."  And so the hypnotherapist, Scott De Tamble, asked if Howard could find a way to alleviate that pain, or to help heal it.  And he said "They're taking me to the river of souls."  He described being escorted into this river where he felt whole and complete again, and experienced that powerful intense feeling of being healed from that dark lifetime.  He was asked "Why did you choose that lifetime?"  And he said "Because I had forgotten the dark.  It's important to remember the dark so that you can really enjoy the light."

Howard had the courage to choose a difficult lifetime so that he could "remember the dark."

Anyone who knew or loved Howard will tell you that he had a memorable laugh, and his eyes kind of twinkled when he laughed or recounted a great story.  He hired me at some point to write a film about his odd adventures in Mexico with Dog the Bounty Hunter - and how he very nearly wound up in prison while trying to film an extraction of a criminal.  There was incredible comedy in the story, but also it showed the amazing resilience of Howard.  He didn't feel that the script captured the chaos of what he'd gone through while he was down there - and I'm sorry that we didn't take it further along.  

We had dozens of meetings, over at least a decade, talking about doing a spiritual show together, a reality show based on past life research - a "past life detective" kind of show where people would be under hypnosis and we'd track down whether or not their stories were true.  He could never get anyone of his writing staff to be invested in the idea however, and he used them as a sounding board for whatever he wound up putting on the air.  If they didn't get it, then he reasoned, an audience wouldn't either.  This is how he wound up with "Naked Dating" and his other dating shows on MTV and elsewhere. It wasn't just the titillation involved - although there was that to be sure - it was because these shows were about connecting people on some level. 

Only a few months ago he called me about the afterlife show.  We still couldn't figure out how to make the project together, and I'm sorry we did not.  However, I'll bet he's putting together a hell of a show as we speak.  One thing he said during his session that's worth repeating - when he spoke to his departed mother during the session, she told him that speaking to someone in the afterlife was like picking up a cell phone and dialing a loved one.  We don't actually know how a cell phone works, we can't really get our minds around the mechanics, but we do know if we push so many buttons, our loved ones answer.  She said it was the same thing when communicating with the afterlife.  They can hear us when we speak to them, or reach out to them, and although they may not be able to have a direct response to our entreaties, they'll eventually get back to us in some manner. 

 1963 Rod Taylor Ed Fury Dorian Gray Daniela Rocca Picture

I met Rod Taylor while making a film called "Point of Betrayal" 20 years ago.  We had cast a couple of other actors who fell out the weekend prior to shooting, and the producer Jonathan Krane suggested Rod Taylor and Dina Merrill as replacements.  They both agreed.

Rod was the smartest actor I've ever met - he knew more about the camera, about directing, about staging, about choreographing a fight scene than anyone on the crew.  He would come in with new scenes that I had encouraged him to rewrite - and they were always 100 times better than what I had written or were on the page.  He was funny, smart, and told some great Hitchcock stories.


THE FIGHT SCENE FROM "POINT OF BETRAYAL"
WITH RICK JOHNSON AND ANN CUSACK 1996.

Rod choreographed this scene, we were losing the light and it was shot in one take.

One I remember is that one day during "The Birds" the studio had invited the international press to the set.  And during a set up, Rod noticed that the practical light in the refrigerator wasn't on, so when they went to do a take, Rod asked Hitch if "he was going to have them turn on the practical light in the refrigerator for the scene."  Hitch took a long pause and said "And now I will take a break while Rod Taylor directs the picture."  Everyone laughed but Rod, who was furious for being made a fool of.  During the lunch break, Hitch's secretary came looking for Rod, who was furious over Hitch mocking him.  

The secretary apologized profusely and insisted the Hitchcock wanted Rod to see him right away.  Rod went up to his office, thinking he was about to be fired, and when he came into the room, it was filled with all the international media - Paris Match, etc, all seated around a table having lunch with Hitchcock.  Hitch stood up and gestured to the empty seat next to him  and said "Ahhh, the star of the film has arrived.  Please, Rod Taylor, come and sit next to your biggest fan."

Of course they were best pals after that.

He last appeared in a Tarantino film - this is a wiki foto from an interview he did - via PDX retro

The saga of Point of Betrayal is short and sweet. Made for under a million, it was a thriller that was purchased by HBO and Paramount Home Video for distribution.  I thought that was fantastic.  Then it turned out no one had done an E and O for the film - an insurance document.  So Paramount sued the producer, and the film was put on a shelf - distributed overseas (I still get checks from odd territories for the musical score I did for the film, as well as checks from the Director's Guild) but the film has never been seen in theaters in the U.S. outside it's premier at the Palm Beach Film festival.




ROD TAYLOR IN "POINT OF BETRAYAL" WITH REBECCA BROUSSARD, ANN CUSACK, DINA MERRIL AND RICK JOHNSON. DIRECTED AND SCORED BY YOURS TRULY

I had a number of memorable dinners with Rod.  Funny, smart, didn't suffer fools lightly, he was also a terrific painter. 


Let's see if I can dig up one of his pix.



Anyways, as we grow older, more of us won't be on the planet much longer.  Both of these fellas made the world a brighter place, and I'm sorry to see them go, but looking forward to seeing them again at some point in the future, on the Flipside.