Searching the stars for answers. OK. I am biased. I really enjoy Shirley as an actress and as a seeker of spiritual truths. She has been fun to "travel with" through her books and so forth. Here is her latest evolution. Well done.
Sparkling ... Shirley MacLaine is a prolific and popular writer. Photo: ReutersAS MUCH as Shirley MacLaine is known as an Academy Award-winning actress - who could forget her in 1983's Terms of Endearment with Jack Nicholson? - she is equally known for her beliefs in spirituality, reincarnation and UFOs.
Combining her new-age experiences with memoir, the 77-year-old has penned 12 bestselling books. For her latest, I'm Over All That, she muses on things that vex (deemed ''I'm Over …''), contrasting with things that inspire (''I Am Not Over …''). All of this she considers during her ''third act of life''.
To begin her reflections, MacLaine laments a sometimes ''unbearable ecstasy of loneliness for some of my past''; that it at times feels ''like it happened to someone else''. But rather than ruminate on nostalgia, what drives her is lifelong curiosity and a search for Big Truths that answer questions such as why we are here, what is the point of life and are we the only life forms in the universe?
I'm over all that, by Shirley MacLaine (Simon & Schuster, $24.99). Amid grander questions, she admits not being over acting, going to movies and live theatre, symphonies, eating a good dinner, learning to dine out alone and taking treats and toys to the animal shelter (her constant companion is Terry, her 12-kilogram terrier).
What MacLaine is over, however, is that terrorism trumps our freedom to travel. She argues it's not the real reason we've become ''saluting robots'' but rather a convenient excuse to get us to become ''compliant and unrevolutionary citizens''.
Other irks include the rudeness of young people, marketing departments that run the film industry, closed minds, fear taught in the name of religion, fashion (she favours comfort) and homogenised news.
Intertwined with opinions on the benefits of good photographic lighting and disgust for people famous for doing nothing, are vignettes from a life lived among celebrity.
Of great friend Elizabeth Taylor she recalls the pair returning to MacLaine's Malibu apartment. Noticing MacLaine's dog had pooped on the floor, Taylor would clean it up, protesting that she wanted ''a simpler life''. Politically focused, she recounts a hilarious tale during the Kennedy campaign when she (and other Hollywood stars) were invited for a weekend at Palm Springs. After she'd retired, a door opened and a man climbed into her bed. She didn't know who it was and so sat up and rolled over onto the floor. He then left. This pattern repeated all night. She had no idea who the men were.
Past life experiences are touched on as she tells of the 800-kilometre solitary walk along Spain's Camino de Santiago de Compostela, completed in her mid-60s, during which several occurred.
Later chapters contain greater depth on matters such as the birth of sexuality, which can be traced to Sumerian cuneiform tablets, and the universe's memory, called the akashic records.
A preoccupying theme, however, is December 21, 2012, when, for the first time in 26,000 years, our solar system will be in direct alignment with the centre of our galaxy. MacLaine explores its ramifications and for opinion she consults Mayans about their calendar that ends on this date and Stephen Hawking for scientific thought.
A stickler for enunciation, MacLaine writes with clarity and wit. Keen to dispel her ''wacky'' image, she presents a valid argument as to why figures such as the Dalai Lama are revered for spiritual teachings whereas she faces ridicule, reasoning it down to a preference of wardrobe.
What charms is that while taking herself seriously on matters of the soul, the metaphysical and politics, MacLaine presents as a good old bird; one not caught up in her Academy Award status. Her Hollywood stories are fabulous and that she can span Alfred Hitchcock, Fidel Castro, UFOs, the eradication of spiritual re-embodiment in the Gospels and sexual shenanigans while being both informative and entertaining, remains her gift."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/searching-the-stars-for-answers-20110903-1jr4n.html#ixzz1Wzv3p7aC
Searching the stars for answers. A star with substance, whether or not one agrees with her, one can appreciate the risk and wit with which she has conducted her life. I wish I had been able to meet her in person and talk of spiritual notions.
Sparkling ... Shirley MacLaine is a prolific and popular writer. Photo: ReutersCombining her new-age experiences with memoir, the 77-year-old has penned 12 bestselling books. For her latest, I'm Over All That, she muses on things that vex (deemed ''I'm Over …''), contrasting with things that inspire (''I Am Not Over …''). All of this she considers during her ''third act of life''.
To begin her reflections, MacLaine laments a sometimes ''unbearable ecstasy of loneliness for some of my past''; that it at times feels ''like it happened to someone else''. But rather than ruminate on nostalgia, what drives her is lifelong curiosity and a search for Big Truths that answer questions such as why we are here, what is the point of life and are we the only life forms in the universe?
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I'm over all that, by Shirley MacLaine (Simon & Schuster, $24.99). What MacLaine is over, however, is that terrorism trumps our freedom to travel. She argues it's not the real reason we've become ''saluting robots'' but rather a convenient excuse to get us to become ''compliant and unrevolutionary citizens''.
Other irks include the rudeness of young people, marketing departments that run the film industry, closed minds, fear taught in the name of religion, fashion (she favours comfort) and homogenised news.
Intertwined with opinions on the benefits of good photographic lighting and disgust for people famous for doing nothing, are vignettes from a life lived among celebrity.
Of great friend Elizabeth Taylor she recalls the pair returning to MacLaine's Malibu apartment. Noticing MacLaine's dog had pooped on the floor, Taylor would clean it up, protesting that she wanted ''a simpler life''. Politically focused, she recounts a hilarious tale during the Kennedy campaign when she (and other Hollywood stars) were invited for a weekend at Palm Springs. After she'd retired, a door opened and a man climbed into her bed. She didn't know who it was and so sat up and rolled over onto the floor. He then left. This pattern repeated all night. She had no idea who the men were.
Past life experiences are touched on as she tells of the 800-kilometre solitary walk along Spain's Camino de Santiago de Compostela, completed in her mid-60s, during which several occurred.
Later chapters contain greater depth on matters such as the birth of sexuality, which can be traced to Sumerian cuneiform tablets, and the universe's memory, called the akashic records.
A preoccupying theme, however, is December 21, 2012, when, for the first time in 26,000 years, our solar system will be in direct alignment with the centre of our galaxy. MacLaine explores its ramifications and for opinion she consults Mayans about their calendar that ends on this date and Stephen Hawking for scientific thought.
A stickler for enunciation, MacLaine writes with clarity and wit. Keen to dispel her ''wacky'' image, she presents a valid argument as to why figures such as the Dalai Lama are revered for spiritual teachings whereas she faces ridicule, reasoning it down to a preference of wardrobe.
What charms is that while taking herself seriously on matters of the soul, the metaphysical and politics, MacLaine presents as a good old bird; one not caught up in her Academy Award status. Her Hollywood stories are fabulous and that she can span Alfred Hitchcock, Fidel Castro, UFOs, the eradication of spiritual re-embodiment in the Gospels and sexual shenanigans while being both informative and entertaining, remains her gift."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/searching-the-stars-for-answers-20110903-1jr4n.html#ixzz1Wzv3p7aC
Searching the stars for answers. A star with substance, whether or not one agrees with her, one can appreciate the risk and wit with which she has conducted her life. I wish I had been able to meet her in person and talk of spiritual notions.
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