The Shift

I had the good fortune to hear Dr. Wayne Dyer speak at a conference I attended in Portland some 15+ years ago. I was initially not that interested to hear him speak as I thought he was just someone who had cashed in on a financially lucrative career publishing self-help books. I was wrong.

I was completely won over by Dr. Dyer, his sincerity, humbleness and wisdom. After he passed away, Facebook and the Internet blossomed with his lectures and videos, and I ordered on Netflix and watched a DVD called The Shift.

Cleverly designed, the film features interviews with Dr. Dyer as himself, alternating with fictional tales of three individuals/families at a crossroads in their lives. The setting is at a retreat center in Monterey, California. The fictional stories worked to illustrate the spiritual truths that Dr. Dyer talked about during his interviews with his fictional film crew. Better than perhaps watching a couple of hours of Dr. Dyer speaking to a PBS audience, it was filled with ideas about the shift, transitioning from the morning of one’s life to the afternoon, a metaphor for an awakening to a life of meaning, a unique soul purpose unfolding for each of us.

A couple of better known actors were featured including Portia de Rossi, and Michael DeLuise, with Louise Hay, matriarch of Hay House, appearing in a cameo. Also available are extra features, which included music videos (Song Inside is charming!), additional scenes and interviews with Dr. Dyer and the film’s director, Michael Goorjian. I watched all these features and enjoyed learning about how the film came to be made, and appreciated Dr. Dyer’s humor as he speaks candidly to the film crew.

The film is visually stunning, the views of the ocean waves and the gnarled trees at the windswept shore helping to create a sense of calmness amidst the characters’ crises. I didn’t care for the music very much, but I am not a fan of classical music and that’s what the score reminded me of. The music felt morose and kind of depressing to me. I learned to ignore it and focused instead on the visuals and the characters’ journeys. You may not have the same reaction to the music as I did.

Dr. Dyer was himself, as I remembered him from hearing him speak those many years ago, a little older, and just as sage. The three people at a crossroads in this story were believable:  a driven businessman and his wife struggling to create a shared life; a young mother who gives first to her husband and children, leaving little time for her own creative expression; and a film director hungry to make a name for himself at any cost.

The Shift is inspiring, and provided many ideas that my husband and I discussed after viewing it. I highly recommend this film; it’s entertaining and insightful, and may be just what you need for the place you are in your life right now.