Exercise: Start with a small goal that seems
achievable. Imagine the steps that need to be taken
and how you would feel if you had reached it. Now
go for it just as Vincent did. After achieving this
goal, go for a bigger one in the same way.- I will never be able to realize my passion in life.
The Piano (1993)
Sometimes help comes from unexpected places. Set in the
nineteenth century frontier forests of New Zealand, Ada arrives
on the shore with her young daughter and a crated piano, hav-
ing agreed to an arranged marriage to Stewart, a bachelor
farmer. Ada hasn’t spoken since she was six. We are not told
why. Her daughter, who translates Ada’s sign language, and
playing her piano are her only means of communication.
Stewart, who cares little for communicating with Ada, consid-
ers the piano of little use in carving a life from the rain-soaked
forest and instructs his Maori tribesmen to leave it on the
beach. But when Ada uncrates it there and plays it, neighbor
Baines hears the music and offers to trade Stewart land in
exchange for the instrument. Baines then uses the piano to
seduce Ada, trading her the opportunity to play for intimate
favors. But the seduction turns out to be more complicated than
either of them thought.
Viewing Suggestion:Watch how Ada stays true to her pas-
sion, which is playing her piano. Her determination helps her
overcome many severe challenges.
Exercise: Contemplate whether you have a passion
that you have not fully realized yet. Have you
pursued anything in your life with determination?
Imagine that you apply this determination to
pursuing your passion as Ada does.“Were good he had God’s
patience, for silence
affects everyone in the
end. The strange thing is
I don’t think myself silent,
that is, because of my
piano.”
Ada (Holly
Hunter in The
Piano)88 E-Motion Picture Magic