'Tree Of Life' Stands Tall

"The Tree of Life" (138 min., Rated PG-13 for thematic material). Rating: 8

In its most subtle ways, "The Tree of Life" evokes feelings of depth that other films try in vain to accomplish by putting the pedal to the metal. No, the best way to draw evocative feelings is to do as little as possible - as say in "2001: A Space Odyssey." Once there, it is up to you to either take the plunge and accept the film's mythology - or pull back and sit there in stunned silence. "The Tree of Life" has that kind of polarizing effect - and writer/director Terrence Malick challenges you to open your eyes, ears, mind, heart and faith to his images and words - or have a miserable time waiting for it to come to a boring ending.

"The Tree of Life" is a cinematic journey into a realm of your consciousness and the outer boundaries of your imagination. There is sparse dialogue, some voiceover narration - but enough to involve you in a narrative about a nuclear family growing up in Waco, Texas, circa early 1950s. Humans are as much a miracle as the evolution of our planet or creation of the stars. We're all in one big celestial soup, according to Malick. It is his attempt to connect us all - from primitive cellular matter to the enormity of the universe - in a story as simple as a family of five coping with the most basic elements of getting along together. That cosmic connection is imaginatively depicted in the film's opening and closing segments in which wispy, colorful images of star clusters and nebulae swirling about with a voice that speaks the words "brother" and "father" - and then to the onset of human existence.

The film's concept and storyline are essentially based on faith...faith in nature...faith in yourself...faith in life itself. You can call this spiritualism, but I don't think it was Malick's intent to mean it as religion or to imply that God created all...though a sprinkle or two of fairy dust didn't hurt helping create the stars, planets and life on them. Humans are but a microcosm of the infinite nature of the heavens.

All of this surrealism can be damaging in trying to make literal sense of a story that has Brad Pitt playing a demanding, strict disciplinarian father of three boys whose lasting imprint on them will brand them for life. The mother, played by Jessica Chastain, is wonderful and loving to her boys - but the dad just can't let up on them for one minute...treating them as if they were cadets in boot camp. The story focuses on a year in their lives when the boys looked to be 10, 8 and 6, and how dad treats his eldest, Jack (Hunter McCracken), driving him, riding him and even humiliating him in front of his family as if he has a personal vendetta against him. The mom can say or do little - she is victimized by his rage as well...all sit in obedient silence hopefully avoiding another turbulent outbreak of his volatile temper. We see Jack some 40 years later as Sean Penn reflecting on the early death of one of his brothers - and those torturous years he was subjected to his abusive father.

* start your genealogy pursuit with a picture: draw your family ...

If you're wondering how to get started with your genealogy research- DRAW out your tree!! Having a visual sketch of your family tree will help you absorb and organize new information. As you will see from my examples, I am an avid family tree sketcher. There are so many ways to draw your family tree, each perspective is unique and can help identify new clues and relationships. You don't need any fancy tools... I use wrapping paper !

It must run in the family.  These are 2 handwritten family trees found in the "box of old family stuff". These trees have given me so many amazing leads! ONE TIP: get credit for your hard work, leave your name and date somewhere on the tree! I don't know who wrote either of these trees, but I have passed them around to some family members for handwriting comparisons :) Someone in my family tree was interested in this great pursuit!

First Drafts

The first thing I do when I'm looking at a new family is sketch out their tree. This chart will be so much help for you while you're researching records. Expect to make mistakes, cross out information, and sometimes get confused...don't worry that's why you are drawing it out. A visual will give you some orientation. At first don't worry too much about making it pretty, you want it to be useful.

 Refresh and redo

Once your first draft gets a little too busy, you might want to consider drawing a fresh copy. When I did this I created a coding system with different colored markers and symbols. This way I could fit more information and keep it looking organized. To get an idea of what I used for encoding vital information, click here . 

Connect or Eliminate Leads

My grandfather, his grandfather, and his great grandfather all shared the name Joseph Kirkbride Wright. In an attempt to knock past a brick wall, my gggg grandfather Joel Wright born 1782, I tried to find a connection through this namesake. There was a well documented Joseph Kirkbride also from Burlington County, NJ with connections to Wright lines. I made this chart as I navigated through his family lines looking for a lead. For the most part this is a resource I can reference while I research new leads to see if I have already ruled out their connection to my line.

Come On, Mom!, 75 Things for Mothers and Daughters to Do Together

Amazing Things To Do Together

The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History

The Kids' Family Tree Book

Ten minutes for the family, systemic interventions in primary care