Hello all,

I saw a theatre show this week that sowed some inspiration in my mind, and so, in a truly experimental fashion, I thought I'd put out this call and see what becomes of it. I could spend a long time discussing the what/why/when, but that would be a boring way to start, so let me cut to the chase.

I am interested to hear submissions from as many of you as possible. The more responses, and the broader the style and content of those responses, the better. The question is deliberately open-ended, and I invite you to interpret it as you wish. Whatever I get will be read, considered, and used for inspiration in overhauling one of my stage offerings. I cannot promise that anything will actually come of this little experiment, but I will here promise to thank you all by feeding back some general observations and aggregated statistics at the end of this process - it's my hope that these reports will be helpful to you all in seeing common threads that might be useful in your interactions with spectators, participants and audiences.

The question I am posing is this:
What is "sentimental"?

You can answer however you feel - a memory, a definition, a speculation, a paragraph, a sentence, a name, a picture, a song... Preferably true, though, because I'm interested in hearing and examining real experiences rather than pure fiction. You can adapt the question somewhat if you like/need (that is, you can choose to answer "What makes you sentimental?" or "What is the best reminiscence your grandfather ever shared with you?" or whatever... very open-ended!). Please be aware that very long essays are going to be difficult to use in the context I'm considering, so try not to get too verbose.

I'm happy to receive submissions from anyone, anywhere (although I can only really make use of them in English), so if you have a friend, wife, etc who might have something interesting to share, please invite them. Ideally, I'd love to receive 150-200 thoughts, but that might be stretching.

Your submissions can be offered here, or via email: sentiment@connorjacobs.com

You can leave your name, or you can be anonymous. BUT...
If as a result of this experiment I would like to make explicit use of any submission in crafting a show, I would naturally want to contact you for your permission and to explain how/why I would implement it. Obviously, leaving your name helps make this easier. For those who, for their own reasons, wish to remain completely anonymous, I will work on putting up a web form in the next few days (although my knowledge of coding would restrict this to text-only submissions).

Thanks all! This could become a fascinating project, and I hope many of you will be willing to participate.

Connor,

It is one-thirty in the morning here. I was going to ask you what you were doing up so late. Then I recalled that you are Brisbane and that it is mid-afternoon there.

With that said, I'd like to think about this. Off to bed. If I come up with anything useful, I'll share later today.

Good luck with the project! I look forward to hearing about the results.

Best wishes,


Scott
p.s. "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

A few years back, me and a few of my buddies went to catch the first Captain America movie. Just a little bit of insight for those of you who have not watched the film, the main character, Steve Rogers, is a small-regular looking dude who wants to join the army, but is rejected due to his health issues and physical problems (the guy is measured to be 5'1 at 98lbs!). But no worries, because Steve eventually becomes this huge-jacked out superhero who saves the day at the end.....even for a small price.

After the credits rolled, we all talked about how great the film was. Going over our favorite scenes, how gorgeous the lady was, yada yada and so on. We were very applaud to say the least. So as we're heading back to the parking lot and getting ready to leave, one of our buddies, who we call Ares, began to speak about how he genuienly appreciated the film. Slightly oblivious, but not without a question to regarding his motive, I thought the same of course. But for him, it was different.

Doing my best to put it in word for word detail, he said something around the lines of "Yes, it was a great film, but not because of the actions or cool visuals, but because of the film's nature. It was like the american dream. Even though in the beginning, Steve wasn't the typical macho-man type soldier, he still believes in fighting for a good cause. To defend for his country with all his courage, no matter how small he was, is very inspiring. He show us that the power of man doesn't come from his physical prowness or intellect, it comes from his heart."


Word.

Now mind you, Ares is a pretty short guy, being about 5'4. So naturally he could sympathize with the character and relate to him on a profound basis.

I guess you can say that was sentimental for him.

Hope this helps!

D. J. Ayur

Thanks for getting the ball rolling, D.J. I don't want to make too many comments, because I don't want to influence anyone else's thoughts or submissions, but I'm grateful for what you've written - already sparking thoughts in directions I hadn't considered. Thanks.

Anytime! Glad I could help out

When I think of sentiment, I think of two things- shared experience and ideal situations. I think that having shared experiences- joyful or sorrowful could lead to sentimental feelings. Also, when thinking about romantic comedies we always see "ideal situations" occur for characters that evoke emotions in an audience.

I immediately thought of the lyrics...

Gonna take a sentimental journey
Gonna set my heart at ease
Gonna make a sentimental journey
To renew old memories

I got my bag, I got my reservation
Spent each dime I could afford
Like a child in wild anticipation
I long to hear that: "all aboard!"

Seven, that's the time we leave - at seven
I'll be waiting up for heaven
Counting every mile of railroad track - that moves me back

I never though my heart could be so yearny
Why did I decide to roam
Gotta take a sentimental journey
Sentimental journey home

i know its not within your word count, but there's plenty there!

Thanks guys.

Haven't heard that one before, Iain. I had to look it up. And don't worry about word count!

When I think sentimental, I think of nostalgia. An empty apartment filled with memories of childhood, with a few trinkets scattered around, each more significant than I remember them to be. Then, finding a letter from someone who's long gone, and reading it, as if somehow he/she is reaching me from beyond the grave.

Thanks Brandon - good thoughts. Do you have any specific personal trinkets that make *you* sentimental for any reason, with stories that you would be willing to share?



I particularly like that bit! The last time I did a thorough overhaul and "cleansing" of my posessions, I found quite a few things that fit that definition - many little trinkets that my heart screamed at me not to throw out, despite me not being able to clearly remember all the circumstances that imbued them with such emotional meaning.

The most sentimental item would be a photo of my siblings and I, 8 years ago. They're all still around, but looking at the photo reminds me of more innocent times, when the world just seems to be a warm and safe bubble. When reality was everything nice around me, full of smiles and joyful laughter. I don't know when the truth set in, but when it did, I realise the world is a much sadder place than I thought. A simple photo taken at a whim came to represent the innocence of childhood. There is no story, really, I'm young and lucky to not have any particularly heart wrenching excerpts. It's just innocence seeping away unknowingly, with the photo reminding me that my worldview was once different.