Lina Lyte Plioplyte: A Few Of My Favourite Things

With a past in journalism, director Lina Lyte Plioplyte has a clear skill at finding the hidden story.

This talent is apparent in her selections for this week's A Few Of My Favourite Things, in which the award-winning director and camera operator digs deep into the meaning behind trinkets and remembrances kept around her workspace.

The Seashell 

My grandma, Genė, was a journalist. My mom would always say that I got her nose and her journalist sense. 

My grandmother used this seashell as an ashtray when she was writing for long hours as a post-war news agency journalist. 

She had an intense life having survived the atrocities of war and having walked (!) from Siberian frozen lands back to Lithuania, after the Soviet powers banished her there to die. 

My mother would share stories of my grandmother's work ethic and passion for work. 

I believe I get that sense from her.

The Female Figurine

This is a replica of a 5000-year-old figurine from Greece. 

I am working on a project about Goddess cultures, witches and social order, and this figurine is an inspiration and a direct reminder of it. 

I call myself a method director, which means that I submerge myself deeply into the subject that I am creating a film about, whether wearing red for a menstruation documentary or surrounding myself with Goddess images when I am creating a film about Her.

The Mala Beads

You can see my mala beads on the window sill. 

I made these myself from my mother's amber. 

It combines my love for Buddhist practice, crafts and my Motherland. 

I'd define myself as a Pagan-Buddhist, and I find it vital being connected to the unseen, and letting that guide my creative process and ideas.

The Diary

My diary is an extension of my brain - I think through writing. 

I love giving myself prompts to answer all throughout my notebook, to finish a sentence, to ponder a quote, to nudge myself to think deeper. 

I write to come up with story ideas. I write when I need answers and when I need to find myself. I write to kick my creativity in and to build myself up. 

And I love lists. 

The quickest writing hack to get myself out of the mood - a list of gratitudes. "What are you grateful for right now?"