Day 292 of 365 - Reclaiming the Lost Self
Recently, while visiting at my friend's home, we watched a wonderful documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono, entitled Above Us Only Sky. It was about the part of John Lennon's life immediately following the break up of The Beatles. There was lots of film footage about his move to the countryside, to get away from the hectic city life and the whole rock star experience.
There was also a lot of emphasis on how John reshaped his life by building a recording studio there where he could write and record from his own perspective, with whichever musicians of his choice. There were many interview excerpts with these musicians and others who aided in this process. Also very informative were various clips of interviews with John and Yoko together.
Two themes that really struck me about this film were, firstly, how John was reclaiming his lost self, and secondly, how key and supportive Yoko was to that process.
As someone who was in my late teen years when this was happening, of course I remember the media version to which I was exposed. So many of us did not understand how The Beatles could break up, when they seemed to have everything and were still so beloved by their fans. Because they had been successful for several years and their music had a formative influence in many of our lives, we felt a sense of ownership. How dare they leave us? Of course, what we were in love with was the image of what was always presented for us in the typical celebrity news of the time.
What we were not aware of, and what the film conveyed so well, was how lost and unhappy John Lennon had become with the celebrity lifestyle. He had had to deny pieces of himself as a creative artist to keep feeding the public addiction to the image of the band. He had wealth and fan adoration, but his soul based needs were not being nurtured.
Meeting Yoko Ono, another creative artist, woke something in John. They became a couple and she was his constant companion during his final time with The Beatles and beyond. The media was simply dreadful in their reporting about her. She was so avant garde in her artistic explorations that most just dismissed her as a serious artist. Many vilified her and blamed her for the break up of the band, as if she had personally convinced John to make his decision. I admit that my impression of her was very much influenced by all the negative press and I had a poor opinion of her as a result.
What was conveyed in the film instead, was a more honest portrayal. Yes, she did some seemingly odd and unusual things, but it was her artistic way of seeing the world and exploring life. She had a very broad scope of imagination. Her relationship with John was tender and supportive, which helped him to reclaim his wholeness. He was equally supportive of her.
A lot of the music John worked on during those couple of years following his departure from The Beatles became the content for his album Imagine. That song was written while living in the countryside and was heavily influenced by his exposure to Yoko's creative projects and the new direction their life together was taking.
John was always quite outspoken, but he now seemed to be able to find more ways to live in integrity with his values and to express them through his song writing, speech and actions. They both became social activists, speaking out against many political and societal ills of the time.
Imagine is such a beautiful song, which has been covered by so many artists and remains beloved almost forty years after its release. In a very moving moment near the end of the film, Yoko said in a current time interview, that she wondered if one of the main reasons she and John were together, was to create the opportunity for him to write that song. This was not stated at all in a self-aggrandizing way, but more as from someone who was grateful to have served a role in that purpose.
John had been lost in the outer world of fame. Yoko helped him to see his inner world again and to reclaim his lost self. This to me was a lovely example of how the passing of years can shift outmoded patterns or beliefs through new experiences. Life seasons us and challenges us to look beyond the stories of our history. We can change the story we want to tell.
There was also a lot of emphasis on how John reshaped his life by building a recording studio there where he could write and record from his own perspective, with whichever musicians of his choice. There were many interview excerpts with these musicians and others who aided in this process. Also very informative were various clips of interviews with John and Yoko together.
Two themes that really struck me about this film were, firstly, how John was reclaiming his lost self, and secondly, how key and supportive Yoko was to that process.
As someone who was in my late teen years when this was happening, of course I remember the media version to which I was exposed. So many of us did not understand how The Beatles could break up, when they seemed to have everything and were still so beloved by their fans. Because they had been successful for several years and their music had a formative influence in many of our lives, we felt a sense of ownership. How dare they leave us? Of course, what we were in love with was the image of what was always presented for us in the typical celebrity news of the time.
What we were not aware of, and what the film conveyed so well, was how lost and unhappy John Lennon had become with the celebrity lifestyle. He had had to deny pieces of himself as a creative artist to keep feeding the public addiction to the image of the band. He had wealth and fan adoration, but his soul based needs were not being nurtured.
Meeting Yoko Ono, another creative artist, woke something in John. They became a couple and she was his constant companion during his final time with The Beatles and beyond. The media was simply dreadful in their reporting about her. She was so avant garde in her artistic explorations that most just dismissed her as a serious artist. Many vilified her and blamed her for the break up of the band, as if she had personally convinced John to make his decision. I admit that my impression of her was very much influenced by all the negative press and I had a poor opinion of her as a result.
What was conveyed in the film instead, was a more honest portrayal. Yes, she did some seemingly odd and unusual things, but it was her artistic way of seeing the world and exploring life. She had a very broad scope of imagination. Her relationship with John was tender and supportive, which helped him to reclaim his wholeness. He was equally supportive of her.
A lot of the music John worked on during those couple of years following his departure from The Beatles became the content for his album Imagine. That song was written while living in the countryside and was heavily influenced by his exposure to Yoko's creative projects and the new direction their life together was taking.
John was always quite outspoken, but he now seemed to be able to find more ways to live in integrity with his values and to express them through his song writing, speech and actions. They both became social activists, speaking out against many political and societal ills of the time.
Imagine is such a beautiful song, which has been covered by so many artists and remains beloved almost forty years after its release. In a very moving moment near the end of the film, Yoko said in a current time interview, that she wondered if one of the main reasons she and John were together, was to create the opportunity for him to write that song. This was not stated at all in a self-aggrandizing way, but more as from someone who was grateful to have served a role in that purpose.
John had been lost in the outer world of fame. Yoko helped him to see his inner world again and to reclaim his lost self. This to me was a lovely example of how the passing of years can shift outmoded patterns or beliefs through new experiences. Life seasons us and challenges us to look beyond the stories of our history. We can change the story we want to tell.
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