All the Harries
It’s a year today since my very first piece of writing here at Pilgrim’s Moon, Growing Older Disgracefully. Happy blog birthday to me!
Yesterday, I went to The Making of Harry Potter studio tour in north London. To walk through the Great Hall, board the Knight Bus and drink Butterbeer was wonderful and truly magical.
It made me reflect on several things:
- The spark is where it starts. If you’ve ever wondered whether one person can put into motion a stupendous series of events, think about that delayed train journey J K Rowling took in 1990, during which Harry jumped into her imagination. That one imaginative spark has enthralled millions and inspired the creativity of thousands of the people involved in making eight wonderful films. The Harry industry has provided employment for many, many people.
- You have to do the work. Jo Rowling had to write the books. She had to go through that labour of writing at the cost of other things in her life. How much easier would it have been to allow that spark to stay in her imagination and never fan Harry’s flame into life?
- Detail is important. The props, costumes and film sets are covered in fine detail which is never properly seen in the films. They are works of art in their own right, and they allowed the actors to inhabit their roles more authentically. I suspect it’s the same in our lives: if the details aren’t beautiful and authentic, the bigger stuff goes astray.
- Minimalism is especially demanding. One of the designers remarked that it’s easy to make a grand effect with visual trickery. If you’re working on something plain, it needs to have real depth and quality to draw and satisfy the eye. Which made me realise again that simplicity is a gift, not a punishment.
Thank you all for reading and contributing to Pilgrim’s Moon over the past year. I couldn’t have had a more delightful group of readers. It’s been a magical time for me, and I hope you’ll stay with me as we head towards the ‘terrible twos’.
photo credit: lucia
Ah, you make me wish to take the tour as well!
Thank you for all the inspiration you provide here!
Happy Birthday, O Great One
claire recently posted..Sisterly Love
clare, ‘Great One’?? Well I’m humbled
Wow, a year already since Pilgrim’s Moon started! Time doth flieth.
Happy birthday to … it/her/him
Sue recently posted..I Am the Ocean
It doth indeed Sue, thank you!
Happy Birthday Pilgrim’s Moon. May you live long and prosper. May we all accompany you on that journey.
Thank you Sarah, and thanks for your accompaniment.
Happy Birthday, and many happy returns of the day! (8>)
WOL recently posted..The Garden of Cosmic Speculation
Thank you!! And thanks for all your wise comments.
and may there be many more
thanks for your special spot here
it enriches me and i appreciate you
Kel recently posted..village : tribe
Thanks Kel, you too!
Happy Birthday Pilgrims! Thank you Tess for your commitment this year guiding this blog into toddlerhood. I raise a cup of rooibos to the terrible twos! xx
Kate, thank you, and you remind me I’ve never tasted rooibos – now is the time!
Happy Birthday Pilgrim’s Moon and to all the readers. I am a great believer in magic and the Harry Potter books and films ‘do’ magic wonderfully well. St Ignatius talked about books providing consolation or desolation and for me there is a genuine sense of consolation from both books and films.
Lynne, thank you so much and you’ve hit the nail on the head about the sense of consolation. I think there can be something around catharsis also.
Happy Birthday, Pilgrims Moon!! I love this conversation about “sparks”… beautiful and inspiring.
“to follow your internal spark, you must first acknowledge it is there.” ksh
Kayce Hughlett recently posted..It Takes a Village
Thanks Kayce, you are a “spark plug” for many people’s engines!
and who says the Brits don’t have a sense of humor… or is it humuor? xo
Kayce Hughlett recently posted..It Takes a Village
My dear, we invented humour! Why else do you think we shipped your lot off to the colonies??
thanks for adding to my outloud laughter bag today
xo
Kayce Hughlett recently posted..It Takes a Village
So very pleased I have become a PM devotee!
Horsa
And I’m glad to have you!!
My favorite part of your post is the paragraph about simplicity as gift rather than punishment.
I see Harry Potter differently than some. I love that the world’s most successful writer is a woman, and that she’s engaged millions in reading who would have read little, otherwise. The Harry industry, though, to me represents just more transformation of creativity into commodity. The publishing industry (and film industry) seek blockbusters and empire, not diversity, new approaches to old topics, or even several new authors instead of one new author.
Finally, I think your two’s will be terrific.
Hi Alison, you’re right about the film industry, of course. But I’m still a Harry obsessive!
Happy belated blog birthday!
Suddenly Jamie recently posted..Marketing fear: It’s all been done before. Get over it.
Thanks Jamie!
Oh, and I also wanted to ask for your thoughts, Tess, on spiritual vortexes and mysticism http://www.diamondcutlife.org/from-the-vortex-at-bell-rock-in-sedona/
(For some reason my website hasn’t been playing well with your ‘commentluv’ function, i.e. my latest post title doesn’t usually come through).
Strange about the commentluv plugin, we’ll have to watch how that goes. I commented on your site on your beautiful post.
Happy Birthday, Pilgrim’s Moon! And many thanks to you, Tess, for a year of thoughtful questions and insights (and book reviews!) to light the way.
Thank you Jane, and thanks for being here!