Imagine Sisyphus Happy

During the fall of France in World War 2, Albert Camus wrote any essay called ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’. In my mythology, Sisyphus struggles to push a rock uphill, only to have it roll down, again and again. An infinite loop of struggle and misery. A curse of existence.

From Camus’ perspective, this struggle is exactly where the meaning of life is found. It’s not getting the rock to the top that matters, because that will never happen. There are always human setbacks, and there are always moments when we have to start from Square One again.

Camus says: The struggle itself ... is enough to fill a person's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

We often talk about the journey being the destination. In times like these, when the world is seemingly hanging on by a thread (just as it was in WW2), maybe it’s good to remind ourselves that yes the struggle is real. But that in itself can provide its own profound message and meaning.

The answer then is simple: keep pushing. This has many times in the past been enough to change history.

Math and the Great Divide

There are two maths we can decide to build our understanding of the world on.

The first is a math built on scarcity. This math believes there is only a finite amount of joy, happiness, money, jobs, and infrastructure to support us all. So if someone else has something else, it by definition means that there is less of that in the world for me now.

That’s why a lot of us scramble to get as much as we can as fast we can, because there is a limited supply.

The other math is built on abundance. This math believes joys generates more joy, happiness generates more happiness, more jobs create more jobs, and more money creates more money (for all of us). In this world, there can be plenty to go around and be shared, especially if we (me and you) take it upon ourselves to create more, which in turn creates more, which in turn creates more. The flywheel spins and spins.

Which math should we teach our children?

Reaching for the Middle

It often takes a tragedy to remind us that life is fragile. It goes away in a blink, a vapor. Rides the breeze of chance. Is permanent, until it’s not.

A friend of ours passed away this weekend. Unforeseen. Mysterious. Just gone. That finality is one never returned, or understood.

But in the meantime, we can reach into the middle. We can grab life right there at the heart of it, and keep it beating as long as possible.

And this, from Dylan Thomas:

Choosing our Boundaries Carefully

I ran an experiment last year where I said ‘no’ to just about everything for a few weeks. I clarified my boundaries around one question: if I say ‘yes’, will it take time away from writing?

This approach worked great for a while. I was able to protect my time, and in fact create more of it for the things I really wanted to do. I was more productive and my pages got turned in. Goals were achieved.

But I also learned quickly that I had to careful. Saying no is a dangerous default. Opportunity doesn’t like no. Serendipity is repelled by it.

So though our boundaries must be clear (for this often defines who we are), there has to be space for Yes. Saying Yes to the universe, that’s where the magic is….

Reclaiming Our Existence

Download this Seinfeld’s Streak Sheet. It’s magic.

Join me in reclaiming our existence. 

I re-committed this year to write one page a day, every day. I was going to see how long I can keep the streak alive, inspired by Jerry Seinfeld, and as I gain momentum I thought I'd share some of what I'm learning. Here's 4 Things:

1. I Decided What I Wanted to Do - Write. I’m trying not to worry about the outcomes, I’m just writing.

2. I Picked a Day and Started - Yesterday I committed to 100 days of writing (others are joining me in this). Then I’m outlining what the perfect week looks like to me - hour by hour - so I can dedicate the time I need to get the 1 page done. Every day.

3. Download this Sheet - See the picture above. Jerry Seinfeld was once asked how he created so much, and he said he NEVER broke the streak. He wrote jokes every day. No exceptions. And he uses a sheet just like this. (This has done pretty well by him.)

4. Go. None of us need permission to make it happen. We just need to start. Pick up the pencil or the guitar and create something. Don't judge, just do. Write a poem to yourself.

A lot of people have talked about the power of INTENTION. That's all this is, I'm no mastermind. But whenever I dial in on ‘making time’ - a lot of good things happen. A lot of pieces that would not otherwise exist, start to exist.

Go.

Building Momentum and Climbing Everest

The most overused cliche perhaps in history we given to us by Confucius, who said ‘The Journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step’.

But like most cliches, this holds truth. Anything we choose to build takes time and one single step forward, again and again.

When people talk about being an artist, that’s really what they mean. Making the commitment to put one foot in front of the other.

Again and again, again and again. This is the promise we need to make to ourselves.

Go Here to Join the 100 Day Challenge!

Hey everyone,

I’m still learning the mysteries of FB apparently.

If you want to join our 100 Day Challenge (see description in previous post), go here:

100 Day Challenge

Hope to see you on the other side.

~ Chris

My 100 Day Writing Challenge

Tomorrow I start what I’m calling (and I ran this by numerous focus groups) the ‘100 Day Writing Challenge’. This is inspired in part by Jerry Seinfeld, who never misses a day.

I think this exercise will accomplish a couple things for me. One thing I face in my writing is the RESISTANCE, that small lizard like creature that sits on my shoulder and whispers sweet annihilations into my ear. Things like ‘You’re not good enough’ or ‘Wouldn’t you rather be folding socks?’ So every day I write consecutively, I’ll be chipping away and shrinking my own lizard brain and self-doubt.

I’ll also be getting in a groove. I’m less worries about quality here, and more worried about just getting it done. Flexing the muscle and getting the reps in. The form does not have to be perfect. Or even close to perfect. But the groove, the deeper it gets, the better it gets.

What counts? For me, it’s working on creative writing, both long-form and scripts. This blog does not count. Social media does not count. Just writing. I’m going for a page a day, minimum. Get your page in.

For you, if you want to partake, it might mean something completely and utterly different: journaling. Or ad copy. Or technical writing. Things that may or may not see the light of day.

Whatever inspires. Whatever makes the lizard smaller.

(Some of the best writing I’ve read lately has been on the side of Oatly cartons)

You in? You want to join me? I could use some accountability partners and someone to break out the cattle prod as needed.

It might be fun. It will definitely be worthwhile. And we’ll have pages to show for it.

Let me know in the comments below.

Dreaming of 2022

This is a drawing I stumbled upon that I made in 2012 in preparation for 2013. These are sort of like New Year’s Resolutions I imagine except scribbled as cave paintings and dreams. All applies now more than ever I think, and I still hang tightly onto the words Deepen, Sharpen, and Share. They are good anchors and angels:

• Deepen: how to move philosophy into a daily act, and not a dusty relic that sits on a bookshelf. I’ve got lots to do here.

• Sharpen: how do I be bolder as the tip of the spear in my own life? Even after all these years, I struggle with insecurities and imposter syndromes too numerous to count. But perhaps it starts with the affirmation “I am love, and I am loved’.

• Share: how do I get better at sharing and being more generous? (This is a tough one, he says.)

Four other words caught my eye in the drawing that I had forgotten about, Build a stable platform. I’d be really interested to know what I meant by this way back then, but for me now it means building a space big enough for the both of us, for all of us, to exchange ideas together and face the sun. Maybe sip on some warm tea or a cool glass of lemonade.

Anyway, here’s the pic - and Happy New Year:

Building a Film Company

The last two years I’ve been focused on building a film company. It’s been a good journey, and I’ve learned a lot about the importance of organization, of numbers, of putting pieces together. Of making stuff that matters.

www.moment.film

But there’s been a thing missing at the heart. of it And that is deeper work around the things that matter. A deeper exploration into what is soul. My absence from this blog - from myself to a degree - is a reflection on that. So I’m recalibrating as of today and trimming the sails.

What does this mean? Simply, more art. More philosophy. More meaning. Wrapping my arms around the muse more, the exploration and the sketches which shall be shared here. This is the first of many posts about that and how this can be applied to the acceleration of meaning through space. The passion of words and making things.

This Day is Not for Sale

Every time you show up for work, you are selling your days. Then years. Then a lifetime. So if you’re not happy, with what you do, you are in effect on the bad end of a contract that you were complicit in writing, then signing. You’ve made a bad deal for yourself.

But at the same time, let’s not confuse work with 24/7 enjoyment. Good work is almost always hard work. Perhaps a good question to ask yourself at the end of every day is: am I any closer to doing what I want? Have I made measurable progress?

If the answer is ‘No’ for too long (weeks, maybe), it’s probably time to develop another plan.

I’m going through this right now to a degree. I’m resetting a few things on the work front, and re-prioritizing some efforts and projected outcomes. I’m not looking for easier. I’m looking for better.

I’ll keep you posted.

Become an Adult, They Said

I have one piece of advice about becoming an adult: turn back.

Unless you can avoid all the paperwork.

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POV: One Way to Break into the Film Business

It’s Summer. Good young people are graduating. Here’s some tips if you want to break into filmmaking. 

We all get caught up in the past. Thinking about things we should have done a bit differently or moves we should have made. Case in point, there are at least two key moments in my life that I messed up (there’s many more, but who’s counting? I am).

Both were meetings that were set up for me in Hollywood. One was with Amblin Entertainment (Spielberg’s company) and the other was with Disney. Pretty big meetings with pretty important people.

To give some context around this, this was in the nineties and I was in my twenties. I had arrived in LA about a year before, and was making more money than I thought possible working as an assistant propmaster on some very big commercials. Massive budgets. I was traveling around the country, had fallen into a very nice gig, and was naive enough to think that the money burning a hole in my pocket was the be all and end all. It’s easy to fall into that way of thinking.

So when I took these meetings, I didn’t have the right mindset. I wasn’t leaning in and I wasn’t nearly as eager as I should have been. I had a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude.

Which was the kiss of death. Instead of being scrappy and saying ‘I’ll do whatever it takes ‘, I played it cool. Too cool for school.

Gratitude is an interesting animal. If it’s at the front of how you carry yourself, it will kick open doors. If it’s forgotten, it will eat your opportunity for lunch until it’s gone. And though I was polite and professional, I didn’t truly understand the moment. Gratitude and excitement and wanting to get it done should have won the day. Instead, it took a backseat to my own hubris. The Disney job? It wasn’t offered to me and wasn’t a good fit anyway.

The Amblin job? I could have had that one. I would’ve had to take a huge paycut and start at the bottom again. I would’ve had to show some crazy incredible enthusiasm. But it was there for the taking. Right there.

And who knows where that would have taken me.

But that bird’s flown. Regret is an assassin. So the lesson is learned:

If you’re starting out, you’ll have to be scrappy. And eager. And excited. You may have to work for no money and endure even longer days. It might look ugly and you might think you’re above all that. And it might be true. You might be above all that.

But I wasn’t. I confused self-importance with reality. So do the work, play the looooong game, do whatever it takes. Look yourself squarely in the eye. All the other stuff doesn’t matter. Not the money, certainly not the title. Not any of that other B.S. at the outset.

What matters is the opportunity. Say yes to the universe. And go for it.

What’s your advice to your younger self?

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We are all astronauts.

The beautiful and terrifying thing is, we’re all crashing through space. We’re all speeding through the unknown. And some of us might be falling, or rising, or sitting still. Others might be born or opening their eyes for the last time. And in this context, we’re all equal. We’re all dumb to the outcome yet smart to the pull of things so much bigger.

We’re also persistent. For all our faults, we’ve managed to stick around. To breathe life into one another, and pull it away still. Reaching through the years and the years…

So we are all astronauts.

Well done.

Radical Optimism Does Not Equal Happiness

I’ve been a promoter of Radical Optimism this year - which I think is needed to get through the waist deep shark strewn sludge we’ve all been wading through.

Radical Optimism is about accepting the responsibility for who you are. What you feel. And how you will approach/embrace the world. It is a stoic philosophy long advocated by Plato, Socrates, and others wearing outfits I wish were still in vogue.

But Radical Optimism does not imply a dumb happiness or a stupid acceptance of what is happening around us. Happiness is not even a primary goal. What is a primary goal is the knowledge that, YES, there are many things we can shape in our lives. And some things we cannot. Saying YES to our own outcome.

It’s a philosophy I’m trying to live by, and it’s still forming. I welcome your thoughts.