We are bombarded daily with information, and yet much of it is mental junk food. It doesn’t nourish us.

“What we hunger for are meaningful stories,” said Glen Slater, a Jungian psychologist and Bainbridge resident. What we crave are stories that matter.

For centuries, millennia really, people gathered together at this time of year when the weather turned and the dark nights drew them to the fire. There, stories would be shared, personal stories and cultural myths passed down through the generations. These ancient stories were encoded with wisdom needed to navigate life’s challenges.

Fast forward – 2X, 8X, 32X – to today where we have access to vast amounts of information, but no context for it. Collectively, we find ourselves on a precipice – informed, but not yet wise.

This weekend, instead of gathering around a fire, people will gather around an idea – encapsulated in the movie Mythic Journeys.

The film, which blends story, animation and documentary footage will be presented at 4 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Historic Lynwood Theatre, followed by a meet-and-greet with film creators Steven and Whitney Boe at KiDiMu, 305 Madison Ave. On Sunday, Slater will moderate a panel discussion with local “thought-leaders” after which participants can choose between six break-out sessions.

The movie, in the vein of the 2004 film “What the Bleep Do We Know?” leads viewers into the margins of the map – into terrain where the quality and depth of questions are more valued than definitive answers. It is embedded with the wisdom of a number of speakers including Deepak Chopra, Michael Meade, Michael Beckwith, Sobonfu Some and others.

“This will appeal to someone with an interest in the imaginative aspects of life: the arts, education, mentoring, or maybe social services. People who are curious and open,” Slater said.

Amy Aspell is such a person. A catalyst for artists, a mentor in crafting an expansive life, and a Science of Mind minister, Aspell will lead one of Sunday’s workshops, “Writing/Recording Personal Mythology.”

“In our culture we get told stories, but we don’t exchange stories, and so we don’t form the bonds that deep communication creates,” she said. “People long for that sense of community.

“Some things have to be shared without language,” Aspell said. “They can’t be Twittered.”

This weekend’s event will provide plenty of opportunity for deep conversations, but it won’t be a navel-gazing session.

“Viewing our lives through the lens of mythology allows us to find the bass notes, the undertones of our personal story,” said Slater, who teaches mythology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in California. “But the mythic sensibility sensitizes us to the larger story around us as well.”

Steven Boe, who co-wrote, produced, and directed the film with his wife Whitney, said the movie’s main message is service to others.

“If we can inspire people to get involved, to volunteer, to reach out to neighbors, then we’ve done our job as filmmakers,” he said.

Fran Korten, who will be part of Sunday’s panel discussion, is executive director of YES! Magazine, an activist magazine that is published worldwide by the Bainbridge-based nonprofit Positive Futures Network. She is wife of David Korten, whose book “The Great Turning,” speaks about our collective story as a people on the horizon of a great transition.

“I think there needs to be a reconciliation between science and religion,” she said. “In the last century, our scientific discoveries have been breathtaking, from showing us the complexity of our bodies to the vastness of the universe. People now feel that they have to divorce their faith, or reject science, and neither feels satisfactory.”

Korten suggests looking at it from a new perspective, not insisting it be an either/or proposition.

“What we need is a new story that incorporates our intellectual understanding of what the cosmos is about in a way that gives us a sense of meaning.”

Aspell, who was instrumental in bringing the film here, thinks Bainbridge in particular is ripe for such deep conversations.

“This island is extremely rich with people already involved in writing the new story,” she said. “We have more than 200 nonprofits centered here, people who are focused on sustainability, mentoring, inclusiveness.

So how did Bainbridge, a community navigating a transition if there ever was one, come to be the first community to host the movie-event?

“It was a fluke, really,” said Boe. And like most flukes, most of the action is below the surface. Call it coincidence, serendipity, providence – Boe’s mother is friends with Aspell who read about the film in “Shift.” Soon, she heard that Judy Whitehead was already in communication about bringing the film to Bainbridge.

The idea for this weekend’s event is to provide the container for people to share the experience, talk about it and hopefully make meaningful connections with others in their community.

“Not to just go home alone and have ice cream,” Aspell said.

After the movie, a reception for the Boes at KiDiMu will double as a benefit for the children’s museum.

Sunday, a mini-conference will provide a forum for discussion but seeing the movie is not a prerequisite, Slater said. “Someone could benefit from the larger discussion that will springboard from the movie’s message.

The Myth and Story Community Engagement Forum opens at 1 p.m. at Bainbridge Performing Arts. After an invocation by Deborah Milton, Slater will moderate a lively discussion among panelists, all of whom share an interdisciplinary bent: Steven Boe, Janet O. Dallett, Daniel Deardorff, Fran Korten, Philip H. Red Eagle and Glen Slater. A Q-and-A session will be followed by brief Myth and Story Discussion Groups led by Amy Aspell, Therese Charvet, Lora Jansson, Dianne Juhl, Kat Gjovik and Leila Kincaid. Tickets for the Sunday forum are $15.

For more information, visit www.imaginalcellsinc.com/mythicjourneys.