Catching The Big Fish
Boy do we ever love David Lynch.
It really doesn’t matter how or for what reason you first stumbled upon David Lynch’s sprawling portfolio of work, once you’ve you located an entry point, you’re in. It may have been one of his many movies, it may well have been Twin Peaks (it was probably Twin Peaks), however, it could have easily been one of his acclaimed albums, exhibitions, television adverts, artist collaborations, publications -or- even the ‘Quiet Time’ initiative that the David Lynch Foundation has successfully rolled out across hundreds of schools in the USA (with remarkable results). One thing we can be sure of is this, David Lynch is a man with an outlook so captivatingly unique that (as we mentioned before) it doesn’t matter how-or-why, once you’re in, you’re in…
We have geeked out on Lynch ever since seeing Eraserhead on a skuzzy VHS back in school and yet it was only until this week that we actually got around to reading his acclaimed book on the meditative techniques he has championed for the past 40+ years of his life. ‘Catching The Big Fish’ details his own experiences with transcendental Meditation and the ways in which simple meditative techniques have the potential to open up limitless positivity, creativity, happiness and ultimately, world peace.
In short, all you need to do is take the time to locate the ‘Unified Field’ within, that is where the magic happens. As Lynch explains…
“I have never missed a meditation in thirty-three years. I meditate once in the morning and again in the afternoon, for about twenty minutes each time. Then I go about the business of my day. And I find the joy of doing increases. Intuition increases. The pleasure of life grows. And negativity recedes.”
Lynch’s musings are centred around the ways in which the three main pillars (meditation, consciousness and creativity) support and complement one another. His arguments are reinforced by the endless filmic references he is able to call upon from his extensive and glittering career. Subsequently, it goes without saying that when someone as inspirational as Lynch speaks about his own quest for happiness, coupled with the ways in which meditation helped him stumble upon some of his finest (and most iconic) ideas along the way, it makes sense to listen.
The beauty of ‘Catching The Big Fish’ is that it is conversational in tone, short and abrupt in parts, but never preachy. Lynch discusses everything you would hope him to; the in’s and out’s of realising Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks, INLAND EMPIRE, it is all in there broken down into digestible (and brutally honest) pieces. Long story short, ‘Catching The Big Fish’ is a short, quick, but long-lasting shooter of inspiration for anyone out there on the neverending hunt for ideas…
Oh yeah, and happiness.