We started out before dawn. We had a full day’s drive ahead of us, to Traverse City, Michigan for the first screening of our film, Opening Our Eyes.  Tom and I were driving in from New Jersey, and meeting Erin in Ann Arbor. She was taking the Mega bus from Chicago with a friend and we’d all drive the last leg up to Traverse City together.

As we turned onto Route 80, headed west for the next 500 miles, I was struck by what I saw – the most gigantic, perfectly full moon, I have ever seen in my life. There it hung on the horizon dead ahead of us as we drove for almost an hour – a brilliant white circle pointing the way.

I’ve always felt like I’ve been ruled by the moon. Born under the sign of Cancer and with the surname of Mooney, I guess you could say that I’m a true “moon child”.  And I really do feel the influences of the cycle of the moon.  But I’ve never seen the moon that big and so clearly defined as it lingered there in the sky. It felt comforting to me after the last couple of weeks which have been filled with the anxiety of getting ready for this trip.

It’s been a long time coming – the making of this film – in fact, it’s been a little more than a year and a half since we first put up this website.  We’ve traveled through 17 countries on over 30 flights, came back with over 150 hours of footage and 5000 still images and have spent the last six months in post production, editing this film.

There have been high points and lows along the way and finally – this Sunday, July 17^th our efforts will be realized as we screen a sneak preview at the State Theater. Friends are coming to join us from all over the country.  Our executive producer is flying in from Los Angeles, Erik, our editor is driving from Philadelphia and Erin is coming up from Chicago with friends.

Many people have asked me why Traverse City, Michigan.  Well, I have a couple of reasons.  My mother’s side of the family is from that part of the country and I have a lot of family there – enough to fill seats on a summer weekend morning.  Traverse City is an absolutely beautiful place to be in the summer with the abundance of water all around it.  And it gives us another opportunity to do another screening on Thursday, July 21^st in Detroit where our two North American subjects live – Marian Kramer and Maureen Taylor.

I have a big birthday coming up this week – my 60^th.  It freaks me out a bit to even write that because I sure don’t feel like 60 years old – or at least how I perceived a 60 year old to be.  That what comes when one listens to their voice inside – and that voice is ageless. I feel good and I can’t think of a better way to spend this milestone birthday – showing my film to friends and family.

My emotions are running the gamut from being ultra excited to wanting to puke from anxiety and everything in between.  This chapter is finally coming to a close. And yet I feel like a new beginning is about to erupt in my life.  That’s the exciting part.  As Forest Gump said “Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get”.

This past week after many months of long days in the editing room, I shipped 3 hard drives with 5 TERAbytes of footage to the professional editor that I will be collaborating with on this project.  It was a grueling process cutting down 150 hours to 3 hours and it still has to be cut in half , but I got through the hard part and that was defining the story.

The story of course is everything and this is not to say that when I started editing this film, it was the first time that I thought about it.  In actuality I have 11 separate stories, about people on 6 different continents involved in a variety of different causes but all of the subjects have one thing in common – they believe that the impossible is possible.
They don’t just believe that – they make it a reality on a daily basis.

There were some really hard days for me when it seemed like I wasn’t getting anywhere and I questioned the folly of this film.  But little by little I chipped away at it.  Editing is a process and there are no short cuts.  You just need to keep looking and listening to the material until the gems start to stand out.  But getting to that point, especially with so much to look at, was beyond difficult.

So, I delight in the feeling of accomplishment, even though it’s momentary and I will soon tackle other aspects of this project – writing the narrative and finding a musical composer.  And once again I will put this out to all who may be reading for any leads to those who have a gift for musical composition and who would be interested in collaborating with me on this inspiring film.

This continues to be a life changing project for me.  Once again in my life, following that inner voice inside of me has pushed me to where I needed to be.  And in the process, I too have made a difference.  That is the best feeling in the world.

P.S. Check out our new “donor” page.  If we have left anyone off – please let us know – we couldn’t have done it without you.