Marie-Rose Phan-Le: Talking Story
Exclusive Interview with Marie-Rose Phan-Le
OMTIMES: What inspired you to take your journey to learn about the healing and spiritual traditions of various cultures?
MARIE-ROSE PHAN-LÊ: “I grew up in an environment in which my Vietnamese mother was a Registered Nurse trained in France and the U.S., but she also believed in indigenous/traditional medicine, such as acupuncture. I also had a great-grandfather who was a divination master—a blind man who could see people past, present, and future to help with spiritual healing. So, I was raised with an expanded paradigm of health, healing, and well-being—a blend of East meets West and where the mystical meets the practical. I felt it would be great if others could have greater choice in how to deal with suffering and disease like I had. In essence, I wanted all of us to have more options in our collective medicine cabinets. I had done a lot of research and study in the healing arts and spiritual traditions. I also studied with a teacher in Seattle, but with all the spiritual materialism of the New Age movement, I wanted to touch in to something old, original, and not simply interpreted for me by someone of modern culture in the West. As I continued my research, I learned that with the passing of elders, the destruction of the environment, and what anthropologist Wade Davis terms “ethnocide”—a willful killing off of an entire culture—I felt compelled to collect as many stories of teachers and healers and profiles of their practices before they all disappeared.”
OMTIMES: Why did you choose the title, Talking Story, and what does it mean?
MARIE-ROSE PHAN-LÊ: “At one of the locations where we shot our Film in Hawaii (and the place I now call home), when someone invites you to come over and visit they say, “Come over, let’s talk story.” In my book I write, “Talking story is about taking the time to linger over the details of the mundane, to ponder the realms of the profound, and to surrender any structure of time or agenda. It is practicing the art of listening and of being present.” Talking story is about taking the time to share what is on our minds and in our hearts. It’s about the healing power of narrative and the building of community. So, I came to realize this project was not about preaching to people that they should care about the loss of traditions or healing practices of foreign cultures, but rather for me to share with my audience the stories of the people and places I was honored to visit and let my readers and viewers fall in love with them as I had.”
