I had a different something in my mind to write about, but I just read about the passing of famed director David Lynch. I was originally going to post a belated tribute to Jimmy Carter following his passing. Now I realize perhaps this post can be inspired by the life of both men. I am actually finding some very deep personal inspiration in doing a simple exploration of their lives.
Jimmy Carter was the first President of my living memory, so his passing is something I feel just a bit differently on a personal level. I can’t help but reflect on his life as well as my own because I have childhood memories involving him. It was the 1970s and my family felt the effects of a poor economy. So I actually remember talking about Jimmy Carter and doing silly impersonations of him on a cassette recorder while playing with my friends.
My father always had respect for Jimmy Carter. Those were the days when blue collar workers and decedents of farmers still felt loyal to the Democratic Party. But I also remember the shifting political sands and economic uncertainty that led my mother to vote for Ronald Reagan in 1980. I wasn’t even 10 years old, but those memories are sealed in my mind. It was the beginning of the split that came to epitomize Wisconsin politics to this day.
I wasn’t a huge David Lynch fan as many are, but his body of work makes you wonder how his brain works, to say the least. The tribute to him published on CNN.com describes much of his film and television work as featuring “a dreamlike plot involving sex and violence” in a “suburban setting that belies the seedy underworld beneath…” I can see where his work was particularly attractive as subversive in the 1980s before I was old enough to see it. It was a cultural ipecac for whitewashed suburban children of the Reagan era, at least those who were old enough to view it in real time.
Something unexpected brings these two men together. Much has been written/said about Jimmy Carter’s many lives in recent days. His was a long, spectacular life of purpose and accomplishment. David Lynch’s life shared a similar arc. His first and most lasting love was painting. In addition to his prolific film and television career, he was a musician and made several recordings. He was a man of many exceptional talents.
Both men also shared a very disciplined spiritual life. Carter’s practice of his Christian faith is again well-noted. Lynch practiced transcendental meditation twice a day. About this, Lynch was quoted as saying “It has given me effortless access to unlimited reserves of creativity…” Carter is quoted as saying “Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.” Both men sought a path to higher consciousness; a means to more deeply understand and connect to the human experience absent a sense of self or ego in the process. Lynch left his ego through meditation, Carter through following the life of Christ. Both attributed the ability to achieve a sense of selflessness to the success of their life-work.
Both men also shared an exceptional sense of joy in this life-work. The expressions of their joy is their gift to all of us and our future.
“And quite often when you try to help others – which should be an important part of life – you find that that’s the most gratifying and enjoyable and adventurous thing you can do. It’s a way to make your own self happy and joyful and peaceful. The more you try to reach out and get to know and to help other people, the better and more enjoyable life you will have yourself. That’s the main thing that I would like to say.” said Carter.(https://formagazine.org/blogs/for-now/a-joyful-life)
“Speaking with Vulture in 2018, the director said that despite their sometimes-morbid subject matter, the source of his films was ultimately joy. ‘The thing is, if you get an idea that you love and you want to realize it, then the trip of realizing it should be joyful and the result should be joyful,’ he said. ‘Happiness is not a new car; it’s the doing of the work. If you like the doing, the result will be a joy.’ (https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/16/entertainment/david-lynch-death/index.html)
Well said, gentlemen. Thank you. Rest in Peace.
Sara L. Hinkel, M.S.Ed. 