Month: February 2016

“If you just focus on the work…someday, when you get where you are going, you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world.” ~Taylor Swift, 2016 Grammy Awards acceptance speech

We’re surrounded by distractions. At home, in the office, and in the world. They pull our focus, time, and energy.

Here’s the best trick I’ve found—work on something that you love to do more than anything in the world and surround yourself with people who share your desire to do something wonderful with your life. I also make lists of things I want to do and post them everywhere so I am constantly reminded of the work that matters most. Combined, these forces are no match for any distractions. I happily shut off my phone, disconnect from my high-speed wi-fi, and away I go. I love my life. I love my creative projects. I love the people whom I’m luckily and grateful to have around me. That’s my focus.

“There is no special ingredient. It’s special if you believe it’s special.” ~Mr. Ping, Kung Fu Panda

I was flipping through the channels on a snowy President’s Day and came upon the scene in Kung Fu Panda when Po feels so defeated and let down. He’s just realized that his nemesis is stronger than he ever imagined and believes he lacks that something special that would transform him into the Dragon Warrior. Then he learns from his father, Mr. Ping

So often we’re searching for a silver bullet – this one magical element that’s going to make our lives, projects, relationships, careers, and jobs better. We think everyone else has it and we don’t. The truth is that what we’re doing is special if it’s special to us. That’s all that’s required, and that magic comes shining through to others when we’re doing what we’re meant to do. Shine on.

“We are sometimes taken into troubled waters not to drown, but to be cleansed.”

If you’ve ever been in a tough situation, one that seems impossible, unfair, and just too heavy, you may have said something like, “Why me?” I’ve been there so many times. It can sometimes feel like the ground is shifting far too much for far too long. All we want to do is catch a break and catch our breath.

It’s times like that when I think about this quote, and then I remember to float and learn. Some of my most powerful lessons have come from tough times, seemingly impossible times, when I couldn’t see a way up, out, over, or through. Those times have made me fearless and relentless. They’ve made me brave and strong. They’ve made me humble, grateful, empathic, and loving. And those are things that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

So let the tough times roll. And let the joy, the learning, and the grace surround you during all of your times—difficult and happy alike. The light returns, it always returns, if we remember to look and be open to its many shapes.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

A friend of mine has been trying to get a new project off the ground and he’s facing a lot of opposition. I spoke to him the other day after a very tough day on which someone who is small-minded, insecure, and incompetent did everything possible to make my friend feel inferior. My friend is talented, thoughtful, and capable, and that was a hard combination for this other person to face. Petty people like his adversary take others down to make themselves feel better. They hate nothing more than seeing people do well because there’s a real self-loathing beneath that thin veneer of arrogance and narcissism.

If you’ve faced this kind of person, just know this: karma is the perfect accounting system. The world will eventually treat us the way we treat others. Though I was sad and angry on behalf of my friend, I have no doubt that he is going to be successful. He is powerful and passionate, strong and wise. And he follows one of my very favorite life mantras: Work hard and be nice to people. That’s the way forward. Everything else (and anyone who tries to get in the way of that work) is just noise.

The inspiration that I got from attending the Teacher for America 25th anniversary summit is still going strong. Yesterday morning, I channeled that inspiration and started working on a new education technology idea to help children everywhere to understand the historical context of the world around them—the world that they’re inheriting and stewarding for the generations whom we may never meet.

The idea, which I’m calling Project Rubeus as a code name, was inspired by two panels I attended: “Then and Now: The New Civil Rights Agenda and Education Reform” and “Building a Movement: Learning Lessons from Successful Social Change Movements”. They were multi-generational panels and I was struck by the framing of them as powerful and potent histories of the social movements that continue to fight for justice and equity to this day.

Children need new lenses through which to view history. They need to know who came before them, what those people did, where they lived and worked and marched and raised their voices, what they were fighting for, and why it matters.

There is now so much history that children need to sift, process, contextualize, and utilize, all while being cognizant of the world they live in today. It’s overwhelming for most adults to manage. Imagine how overwhelming it is for a child. Project Rubeus is working to solve this problem for children. I’m excited to work through this idea and see what happens.

“Good things happen to those who hustle.” ~Anaïs Nin

I’ve found that the number of good things that happen to me is directly proportional to how much I put myself out there. I connect, listen, learn, and share. I think of the hustle not so much as something I have to do, but just opening myself up to new possibilities. I love the hustle. When I get tired, I rest. When I need some solace, I retreat. And eventually I gather up my strength again, and I’m ready for the next new challenge. There is so much to do in the world—so many problems to solve, people to meet, places to go, and things to learn and discover. It’s all out there waiting for us so let’s get going.

Michael Moore needs our help. The gifted documentarian who passionately fights for social justice through his films is recovering from pneumonia the week that his latest film, Where to Invade Next, is released. From his hospital bed, he wrote this letter explaining that he has had to cancel most of his promotional appearances and that may impact the most important film he’s ever made. Let’s lend a hand, buy a ticket, and help this activist continue to help us!

“I’m writing this to all of you today (Thurs) from the Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in New York City. Unfortunately, I’ve come down with pneumonia. Between running all over the place lately promoting my new movie (WHERE TO INVADE NEXT), plus going to Flint to help the people of my hometown, plus jumping in to support Senator Sanders, plus doing a dozen other things — well, I read somewhere you can’t burn it at both ends, and if u do, it’s best not to do so in the winter nor anywhere near a place full of toxic water!

The truth is, I’ve actually been in the ICU since Sunday night. Let’s just say things didn’t look good Sunday night. But thanks to a combination of good doctors, decent hospital food and 2nd-term Obamacare, I’m doing much better the last couple of days — so much so that I’m being discharged later today. I’m to return home and rest for the coming days. All appearances for the rest of this week have been canceled.

Needless to say, in addition to being a bummer health-wise (and I’m trying out a new thing this week by putting that, my health, first), this is a huge loss to my efforts in leading up to the release of my new movie next Friday. I was supposed to be in LA tonight (Thurs) to be on Conan, and tomorrow night I was making my return after two years to the Bill Maher show on HBO (and thank you, Erin Brockovich, for going on in my place to talk about the situation in Flint!).

Since I mentioned my predicament earlier today on Twitter and Facebook (or perhaps you heard about it in the media), many of you have sent me very nice well wishes (thank you!) and have asked if there’s anything you could do to help me. Actually, there is.

I have to be honest, with my absence this week (and probably into next), I’m now worried about my film’s release. I can’t fly, I have to recover, and in one week (February 12th) this great movie I’ve put so much of my life into is going to open in theaters — with little or no assistance from me. So, would it be OK to enlist your help in a sort of quickly cobbled-together “army” of grassroots foot soldiers, wherein you could pitch in where you live (and on socila media) to let people know about my movie? I could post some ideas tomorrow of things you and your friends could do.

I know this seems a bit unorthodox, and I’ve never seen a request like this made before by a director (then again, I could just be on the wrong drugs), but this is the age of social media and we’re all trying lots of new ways to do things, aren’t we? So why not just appoint each of you as the local PR person for WHERE TO INVADE NEXT, seeing how I can’t make it there in person? This will take a HUGE burden off me and give the movie a chance to be seen by millions.

My other problem is that the distributor hired to release the film is a new start-up company still in formation (the company doesn’t even have a name yet). So their plan all along was essentially to have me do most of the work by running back and forth across the country doing interviews and screenings. Naturally, I loved this plan, but none of us stopped to think what would happen if… I got pneumonia! So, they’re doing their best now (these are the brave people who worked on the release of the Edward Snowden documentary, “Citizen Four”). If a few thousand of you suddenly became champions and spokespeople for the film, then maybe I/we can pull this off. I would be forever in your debt.

I do need to get some sleep, so I’ll sign off for now. Check back with me tomorrow (Friday) for further updates and ideas. Thanks for offering to help. Stay warm, drink plenty of fluids, and let’s get back to our nightly walks!

Best,
Michael”