To the Light of the Morning…

The inscription on Private W. Fletcher’s, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, grave at Ypres...Some Day We’ll Understand. (P. Ferguson image, 9 November 2018)

The inscription on Private W. Fletcher’s grave at Ypres, Belgium…Some Day We’ll Understand.
(P. Ferguson image, 9 November 2018)

…I’ll let it in

This day, 11 November 2018…a hundred years has passed and in my time I have hoped to bring to you…connection. These words have followed my path as I have followed the trails of the Great War from the June heat of Gallipoli to the cold gusts of a November Western Front.

It was not long ago that I wrote the 100ths are soon upon us…and now, a little more than four years later, it is time. Not to let it go…but to let it rest…there is more to follow…but for now, allow me this chance for quiet thoughts…to rejoice in today’s silence…some regeneration…but a few more lines please…

…In August 2018  I visited here at the Menin Gate, bringing Rosemary to this and all the other places that I have experienced. Vimy…Thiepval…Spoilbank, and more. I have mentioned, many times, searching for peace in the chaos…I have found new ways, new designs, new messages…I have become more aware. I have invited connection…and it has provided. There is symbolism here, there is metaphor…there is peace in this chaos. One needs to let it in…

If the Great War teaches us anything, it is that it continues to provide its lessons…It offered me the chance to find a voice and I accepted…I can only hope that in some small way I have, through my clatterings, found the voices of those with whom I have visited whilst searching for my peace.

In August last year Rosemary and I stayed in Ieper (Ypres) and discovered a kindred spirit…Elodie…whose similar taste in music offered another chance at reclaiming the peace I sought. Through Elodie, we discovered Bon Iver. I was connected immediately. Again this morning, at 8:22 a.m., its words came to visit once again…I have searched for its meaning…you can too…It is, for Bon Iver, an awakening of understanding…it is a metaphor of my journey…to the light of the morning…peace in the chaos…if we let it in…

To all those who served…We all have a voice.

Thank you!


About The Author

pferguson
Paul has worked with the Paradigm Motion Picture Company since 2009 as producer, historian and research specialist. Paul first met Casey and Ian WIlliams of Paradigm in April 2007 at Ieper (Ypres), Belgium when ceremonies were being held for the re-dedication of the Vimy Memorial, France. Paul's sensitivity to film was developed at an early age seeing his first films at RCAF Zweibrucken, Germany and in Sardinia. Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was further amazed by David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai". Film captivated Paul and with time he became increasingly interested in storytelling, content development, character, direction, cinematography and soundtracks. At the University of Victoria, Paul studied and compared Japanese and Australian film and became interested in Australian film maker Peter Weir and his film "Gallipoli" (1981). Paul was entranced when he learned Weir had visited the beaches, ridges and ravines of the peninsula. The film "Gallipoli" alone led Paul on many journeys to sites of conflict in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Malta, Hawaii, Gallipoli and Salonika. It was, however, when Paul watched documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, "The Civil War", that Paul understood how his own experience and insight could be effective and perhaps influential in film-making. Combining his knowledge of Museums and Archives, exhibitions and idea strategies with his film interests would be a natural progression. Paul thinks like a film-maker. His passion for history and storytelling brings to Paradigm an eye (and ear) to the keen and sensitive interests of; content development, the understanding of successful and relational use of collections, imagery and voice. Like Paul's favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, he believes in the adage “To deepen not broaden.” While on this path Paul always remembers his grandmother whose father did not return from the Great War and how his loss shaped her life and how her experience continues to guide him.

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