Little Pearls on Television: Madison’s World Influence
By Diana Schmitt

July 24 2002

The average hour of television is designed to convince viewers that having products will give them the things missing in their lives--mystery, excitement, sex, beauty, popularity. Television perpetuates a cycle of wanting, buying, and wanting more--because these products never actually deliver.

One organization, Little Pearls, is using air time differently. Little Pearls is a non-profit video, film and television production company dedicated to opening people's hearts with "little pearls," thirty and sixty second public service announcements. The only thing Little Pearls might make a viewer want is more of them.

One Little Pearl highlights the beauty and love of an elderly women. Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" plays as Asheville poet Glenis Redmond's grandmother smiles. Wrinkles stretch comfortably around her eyes and mouth; this is a face familiar with smiling.

In another Pearl, Western North Carolina farmers take a moment of silence for farmers in England losing their herds to hoof and mouth disease. Madison native and WLOS weather forecaster Bob Caldwell speaks as farmer after farmer pauses in his or her day.

The wonder of a baby is captured in one pearl entitled, "Our Children Ask the World of Us." The quirky, unexpected side of life is highlighted in a Pearl when two girls playing a violin duet inspire their dog to "sing" along.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Our faith comes in moments; our vice is habitual. Yet there is a depth in those moments which constrains us to ascribe more reality to them than to all other experiences."

Little Pearls is about capturing the depth of those moments and reminding people how many of them pass through our day if our eyes are open.

Like in real life, where a significant moment might be sandwiched between a day of work and getting dinner on the table, a Little Pearl might come between a jangly car commercial and a cloying perfume commercial. Little Pearls are unexpected and unforgettable.

The Little Pearls organization was inspired by the nighttime dreams of two women: Debra Roberts and Linda McLean.

"I spent the first part of my life trying to figure out what makes people tick," said Roberts, an English and Psychology major. "I've been involved in theater all my life." Originally from Chicago, her work in counseling and theater has taken her to Washington, California, New Mexico, and for eleven years--England.

Married to a native of North Carolina, Roberts decided to put down roots in 1997 here in Western North Carolina. "It's an incredible part of the world," she said.

In 1999 she started Heron Productions company which specialized in video documentaries. A recurring dream in the winter of 1999 inspired her to begin Little Pearls. "I kept waking up at night and going back to sleep having the same dream," she said.

In the dream she was told, "If I made 200 little pearls, I would know how to make a fine feature-length film."

She made two "little pearls" before meeting Linda McLean in the fall of 2000.

Like Roberts, McLean has lived in a lot of different places. She moved to the Asheville area for the first time in 1973. She left for graduate school and returned again in 1981.

"The three places that feel most like home are here, Nashville, and the Oregon coast," said McLean. "There's no question which one is most home. I just love it here."

McLean has a Master's degree in social work. For more than twenty years she worked in the mental health and developmental disability fields. For nearly as long she has been a peace activist, particularly with Peace Links.

A friend encouraged McLean to write an autobiography twenty years ago, due to her ability to "relate to all kinds of people. . . . But I knew even then that most people don't read much," said McLean. The average person turns on the T.V. daily and reads a book yearly.

Beginning then, "I had a sense of using media to reach the mainstream," said McLean. Almost three years ago a night-time dream in which she used television to expose people "to things that might help them wake up" reignited her desire to share her ideas with a broader audience.

Through a series of connections, McLean learned about Roberts and her non-profit Little Pearls. Dreaming the same dreams, the two women had been living within six miles of each other for over three years. Soon after meeting, Roberts invited McLean to join her in the making of Little Pearls.

Together they have produced five more Little Pearls, as well as two mini-documentaries. The subjects for the Little Pearls come from their daily lives. "We pick people we know--we match inspirational people with inspirational messages. I feel like the ordinary is also extraordinary and gets overlooked," said Roberts.

"In American culture we put so much attention on the flash, special-effects side of life. There are people in our everyday lives that are a source of constant inspiration. Yet we somethimes forget to be conscious of those moments that make us remember who we really are as human beings at that really basic level," Roberts continued.

"Most of what is on T.V. is geared to make people want things. We don't have models [on television] for living in a full way, in a deeper sense of connection and purpose. T.V.[is] a way to expose people to these little seeds," said McLean.

When asked if they have a favorite Little Pearl, neither can choose. "Each one has taught me worlds . . .to craft it in a way that is inspiring, heartful, and touches people's lives. You want each one to be well-produced, a standard of excellence in the industry," said Roberts.

"I've learned from every one of them," agreed McLean. "Each one has been it's own journey. [They are] like looking back at a photo album of beloved friends," said Roberts.

Little Pearls have aired regionally on WLOS, on Channel 10, in New York and in England thanks to generous contributions of many individual donors in this community, the Episcopal Diocese, the Grove Park Inn and other businesses.

"Most PSA's so not reach audiences effectively," said McLean and Roberts, "because they are shown at times when no paid ads are scheduled, such as the middle of the night.

"Little Pearls raises funds both to create these spots and to buy commercial air time, maximizing our use of the power of television to reach mainstream audiences during prime viewing times."

According to McLean "the common thread" in all of the responses they have received is that the Pearls are "heart-opening."

The most vivid example of this is the Child to Child: Heart to Heart Pearl, featuring children from three elementaries and one homeschool in the Asheville area. Each child was given two days to think about what they would say to children in greater New York city who had lost someone they had loved in the September 11th tragedy.

One little girl looks into the camera, holding a candle. Her smile needs no words.

Little Pearls are heart-opening because "what's universally important is pretty true for most people," said Roberts.

Looking to the future of Little Pearls, McLean said, "I do not know what will happen but I am perennially hopeful that lots of things that people do can be part of what shifts us in to living more lovingly."

To learn more about Little Pearls, visit the website at LittlePearls.org or contact Roberts and McLean at 828-658-9097 or 828-645-9726.

If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to Little Pearls, please make your contribution out to "Western Carolina Coalition for Social Concerns" and send it to Little Pearls, PO Box 8641, Asheville, NC 28814.