A Movie About Our Search for Love

Anybody who has watched our documentary film, Project Everlasting: The Search for America's Greatest Marriages Begins!, can recognize that we didn't produce it with money but rather with everything we had otherwise.

What we had, of course, were the stories of about a hundred everlasting couples, a lot of heart, and a lot of desire to share what we'd been discovering.

Watching this trailer for Paper Heart reminded me of that grassroots, low-budget approach to filmmaking, which is why I'll for sure be standing in line for the movie when it comes out, along with the other 10 or 11 people who appreciate art that's made with more heart than dollars.

Here's the trailer for the movie so you can see what I'm talking about...



But it's not just the movie's shoestring, organic approach to filmmaking that draws me here. No, I'm also interested in the main character's quest itself: she's taking an honest look at what love means for other human beings, and then discovering how she does or doesn't relate to those ideas of fulfillment. What a stellar question for us to ask! For the opportunity to see how she arrives at answers and how those answers affect her, I will gladly pay my $10.50 admission.

As you might gather now, I'm not posting this to persuade you to go see a particular movie. Heck, you might find the question "What does love mean to me?" at the spine of Sandra Bullock's latest, Blindside, and I'd get it. Indeed, just about any form of entertainment or art probably has a hint of this question at its fundamental root. But my question to you is -- and may it be a persuasive one -- how do you define love?

• Is love the quality time someone spends with you?
• Is love the dinner bill that someone picks up for you?
• Is love the note that someone writes to you?
• Is love the look that someone gives you?
• Is love the commitment someone makes to you?
• Is love the way someone touches you?
• Is love the words that someone speaks to you?
• Is love the space that someone creates for you?
• Is love the forgiveness that someone holds for you?

Spend time right now reflecting upon how you best define love's meaning.  I suggest looking deeply at how you enjoy love's great fruits when received from another first, and then asking yourself an important second question: Do I give myself that same measure of love?

Or...do I wait for that someone to do it for me?

Start with yourself, I say. The rest will follow your lead.