'InnSæi is the Icelandic word for intuition. It means ‘the sea within.’ Photo: Detail of DVD cover of InnSæi, directed by Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir and Kristín Ólafsdóttir.
InnSæi, directed by Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir and Kristín Ólafsdóttir
Directed by Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir and Kristín Ólafsdóttir. Review by Angela Greenwood.
I was recently prompted to watch Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir’s and Kristín Ólafsdóttir’s film and was immediately engaged and inspired. InnSæi is the Icelandic word for intuition. It means ‘the sea within’, like the borderless nature of our inner world, or it can mean ‘to see within’, or to ‘see from the inside out’ – to tune-in deeply with empathy and openness. When I heard that I recalled the Experiment with Light meditation where we quote George Fox’s phrase: ‘Keep within. And when they say, “Lo[ok] here or lo[ok] there is Christ”, go not forth, for Christ is within you… For the measure’s within, and the light of God is within, and the pearl is within, though hidden’. It occurred to me that Quakers might share my enthusiasm for this film.
After a budding career in the UN including supporting refugees in Kosovo, Gunnsteinsdottir burned out and left her job. It was as if her mind was going round in circles she couldn’t escape, and when someone asked her how she felt she just couldn’t say. She suddenly realised she was completely out of touch with her inner life, which prompted a long exploration, many discoveries, and the film. Gunnsteinsdottir and her friend Kristin Ólafsdóttir explore the importance of intuition and the emotional, creative and spiritual capacities of our right brain, mostly neglected at our peril – this often leads to stress and short-term self-centred thinking. In their investigations the filmmakers traverse the globe interviewing artists, neuroscientists, psychologists, teachers and children, and spiritual leaders. Marti Spiegelman, expert in neuroscience and indigenous consciousness, talks of how we are only using a fraction of our human capacities, with devastating consequences for ourselves, and the planet.
I was particularly affected by Marina Abramović, an artist of amazing empathy and depth. We see clips of one of her art ‘happenings’, when she internally takes herself into a very deep place of openness and peace, and people queue to take turns to sit silently facing her, and be filmed looking into her deep compassionate eyes – frequently being moved to tears. She talks about how, in order to create something new, people need to go into the unknown. I was also inspired and uplifted by the energy of the grounded and charismatic West African elder, Malidoma Patrice Somé, who said, ‘intuition binds us together, without it we loose our sense of purpose and belonging’.
But for a therapeutic educationalist like me the visit to the British primary school is a highlight. We see clips of the children’s ‘mindbreaks’ – mini meditation breaks done at particular times of the day and week, or of stress. A child tells us how they learned about the different brain parts and their functions; and a ‘recovering’ eight-year-old boy talks about how all these help him manage his ‘big feelings’. We see in the children the development of empathy, thoughtfulness and wellbeing in the school.
Which brings me back to the crucial importance of ‘looking within’ as a foundation for wellbeing, compassion and governance. Quakers I think are well placed to take this forward.
