Remembering John Lennon on His 70th Birthday

Lennon would have turned 70 years old today.  That’s hard to believe. It’s been 30 years since his tragic death and I often wonder, like so many others, what John would have done over the past three decades if he had lived. No doubt he would have been true to himself, because he always was.  That was his appeal.

Even as a young girl, I was drawn to John, he was “my favorite Beatle”. There was something exciting about him – and I always felt like he was giving it to me “straight”.  People just seemed to connect with him because of his sincerity. He was his own person and he was following his own path.  When his second son Sean was born, Lennon dropped out of the music limelight to raise him. A lot of people thought he was crazy to do that – to take a break from the music scene at the pinnacle of his career.  But that was John following his bliss, staying true to himself.

“People say I’m crazy doing what I’m doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I’m o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,”

“People asking questions lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there’s no problem,
Only solutions,
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I’ve lost my mind,
I tell them there’s no hurry…
I’m just sitting here doing time,”

I’ve been very fortunate over these past few months, to be around other extraordinary people, the subjects of my film, who are staying true to their own convictions as they pursue the life they are meant to live. You can read more about these people here.  Like John, they are imagining the world to be a better place.  They are activists for change and they live their lives in that pursuit. John would have loved them.

So, today my thoughts are on John and what he left us – his music of course, but more importantly his beautiful spirit and his belief that things can be better.  In traversing around the world this summer, I met so many other inspiring people who believed the same thing and were following their own bliss,  making the world a better place for all of us.

Happy Birthday John, you are missed.

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