"It sounds like it means you're going to be as present and whole as you possibly can be, as often as you can be," I said.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Yeah."
"Well, trying to be in my body right now," I said, "I really need to run to the bathroom."
When I returned I found that Hoss had ignored our lack of a dessert order, delivering an amazing ginger crème br&umcirc;lée and a vegan fruit and sorbet plate to our table.
Over dessert, Jamie explained his work with the Lakota Indians of South Dakota. What began as a simple attempt to help build a movie theater on one of the band's reservations has mushroomed into a $20 million project complete with housing, fuel cell, arts, and employment provisions. "My personal feeling is that the purpose of their culture -- called Hecel Oyakapi, which in the Lakota language means "They tell it this way" -- is to provide the Lakota people with the tools to preserve their language and their culture, and to create an economically viable community of artists so that they can tell their stories to the world," said Jamie. "The Lakota have a tradition -- not only were they never beaten by the United States, but they also have a tradition that connects them to their land, their community, to their extended family, to their god, to the universe. We [need to] begin to relate to this land the way the indigenous people related to this land. To root ourselves in the rhythms and the power, the magnificence and the miracle, to take responsibility for it. Basically, our survival is dependent on their survival. It's an opportunity for us to pay back to them, for what we have taken from them, but also to avail ourselves of what they have to offer."
It's a project about which, as he does about most things, Jamie feels very strongly. "I'd be very grateful if you could include their Web site," he said (www.lakotastory.org).
Reflecting on all of it, Jamie said, "I have made a choice in my life to do a certain thing. I guess in some ways I'd like to say it chose me. You know, I came so close to turning Babe down. Basically, I took it as an experiment. And it worked. I had no idea what it was, I didn't read the script. I mean, I read it, but I thought, "Oh, it's one of those talking animal movies.'"
I asked Jamie whether he thought of himself as lucky.
"Well, you know," he said, "words are funny. They move around a lot. I tend to like the word "grace.' But I know I'm a lucky fella.
"Luck is assuming that the miracles that happen are a result of something outside of yourself, which you are not in control of, which you are not part of, but I don't believe that. We call it luck, but "luck' is just a word. We create this. This is our movie."
If that's the case, I give it two thumbs up. And happy birthday, Jamie.
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