{"id":167,"date":"2011-03-15T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/2011\/03\/the-adjustment-bureau.html"},"modified":"2011-07-31T21:59:38","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T01:59:38","slug":"the-adjustment-bureau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/03\/the-adjustment-bureau.html","title":{"rendered":"The Adjustment Bureau"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/t1.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7f8miFbmxz59Fu0WlSeTKV7HffkTYkkkhbyClsmJcYywtt3VKiG0VnFOK\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"154\" \/>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">Choice or Chance?\u00a0 Free will or B&#8217;shert (Hebrew for &#8216;meant to be&#8217;)? Divine Plan or Random Occurence?\u00a0 Do you believe that you are at the effect\u00a0of a Higher Purpose for your life\u00a0that was scripted by God or that you make choices moment by moment?\u00a0 Perhaps a combination of the two?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">These are the themes of the recently released blockbuster movie <\/span><\/span><em><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">The Adjustment Bureau<\/span><\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">. Starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, it takes their characters of New York senate candidate David Norris and ballet dancer\/choreographer Elise\u00a0Sellas and places them in a series of experiences that challenge the intent of a team of dark suited, hat wearing mystery men.\u00a0 At nearly every turn, they do their best to keep the erstwhile lovers at bay for a purpose to be discovered near the end of this poignant film that had me smiling in recognition and anticipation of its plot\u00a0twists.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">Fascinated with the repeated imagery of mirrors and a multitude of doors, I noted that it reinforced the various options that life seems to present&#8230;or does it?\u00a0 What I enjoyed most about the film, is the\u00a0nakedly honest\u00a0spiritual conversation that takes place throughout. The head honcho;\u00a0a character referred to as\u00a0&#8220;The Chairman&#8221; is clearly God although S\/he is never seen n the movie and the members of the Adjustment\u00a0Bureau\u00a0are stand-ins for angels or as the most soft hearted, sympathetic one referred to as\u00a0Harry, states\u00a0&#8220;We&#8217;re more like case officers.&#8221;\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">For every person, they carry with them a book that has maps and lines drawn on it and a series of swirling red circles with intricate designs that look for all the world like spinning chakras.\u00a0\u00a0Each line represents a path that the person is &#8216;meant to&#8217; take.\u00a0 A series of events is slated to take place that would have Damon&#8217;s character engage in a particular experience that is\u00a0&#8216;supposed&#8217; to have him narrowly miss re-connecting with Blunt&#8217;s Elise, but because &#8216;chance&#8217; intervenes, it never occurs and they do indeed come face to face years after their initial meeting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">At one point,\u00a0a member of the\u00a0team sent to re-direct Norris implies that human beings have botched the world royally when allowed free will so that they needed to regain control of the goings on of humanity. Once Norris has &#8220;seen behind the curtain you weren&#8217;t supposed to know existed.&#8221;, upon discovering the true identity of these beings, he is instructed not to divulge the secret or his brain will be &#8216;erased&#8217;. Good motivation to remain mum.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">What happens when we resist the\u00a0&#8216;plan&#8217; is an ongoing \u00a0dialogue between ourselves that &#8220;God of our understanding&#8221;.\u00a0 The film asks more questions than it answers.\u00a0 Can love triumph over destiny?\u00a0 Are our fates so interwoven that one choice, one seemingly inocuous decision, effects someone elses&#8217; outcomes?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">I enjoy considering the ways in which the threads of my life have been woven that have me meeting certain people so that I could have particular experiences that take me places I likely would not have gone, had those earlier events not have transpired. I joke with friends and folks that I interview, for example that perhaps the reason I know them at this point in my life, is that however many years ago, the seeds were planted that are now coming to fruition that have allowed for this very moment in time to occur as it does.\u00a0 Things that would have been inconceivable at earlier points in my life, now come into perspective; even and perhaps, especially the challenging or painful times. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">What are some of the defining moments of your life?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theadjustmentbureau.com\/\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">www.theadjustmentbureau.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Choice or Chance?\u00a0 Free will or B&#8217;shert (Hebrew for &#8216;meant to be&#8217;)? Divine Plan or Random Occurence?\u00a0 Do you believe that you are at the effect\u00a0of a Higher Purpose for your life\u00a0that was scripted by God or that you make choices moment by moment?\u00a0 Perhaps a combination of the two? These are the themes&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-love","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Adjustment Bureau - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/03\/the-adjustment-bureau.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Adjustment Bureau - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Choice or Chance?\u00a0 Free will or B&#8217;shert (Hebrew for &#8216;meant to be&#8217;)? Divine Plan or Random Occurence?\u00a0 Do you believe that you are at the effect\u00a0of a Higher Purpose for your life\u00a0that was scripted by God or that you make choices moment by moment?\u00a0 Perhaps a combination of the two? These are the themes&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/03\/the-adjustment-bureau.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-15T01:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-01T01:59:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/t1.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7f8miFbmxz59Fu0WlSeTKV7HffkTYkkkhbyClsmJcYywtt3VKiG0VnFOK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Adjustment Bureau - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/03\/the-adjustment-bureau.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Adjustment Bureau - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Choice or Chance?\u00a0 Free will or B&#8217;shert (Hebrew for &#8216;meant to be&#8217;)? Divine Plan or Random Occurence?\u00a0 Do you believe that you are at the effect\u00a0of a Higher Purpose for your life\u00a0that was scripted by God or that you make choices moment by moment?\u00a0 Perhaps a combination of the two? 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She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. 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