#change4good

I’m 65 days in on this journey of opening my heart and sharing the perspectives of as many strangers as I can. As every day, and bit by bit, our reach grows; and every night I stay up late trying to find the best way to give you meaningful stories in this unpathed outreach—and to be even more transparent; I’m not even close to understanding my own big why.

So in this vulnerability, I have to tell you, I’m struggling with today’s entry. 

You see, I thought this daily challenge would be like my first 365 consecutive-day commitment—exhausting, uplifting, and very busy in meeting and telling the stories of all those I met.

However this time, it’s turning out to be a little different. First because of a change in my geography; and second, the result of the vicarious world we are now living in. There was enough digital separation in 2011 when we started this whole thing. But I’m blown away by how deep the social, cultural, economic, and political fractures have become. We are so further distanced from each other in these 2020s. And when I look at our children and teens, I’m even more concerned. I know, not an isolated statement, and one that I guess for a lot of you I’m preaching to the choir. But enough of that. Because, on the other hand, I’m grateful for how much smaller the world is because of tech. 

Now, please know I’m not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, trying to martre, or sound fatalistic. There’s a ton of good out there. It’s just the fake news, the comparisons, and the reactionary posts that always seem to grab the mainstream attention. A stir-up that, as well-funded and tech-savvy content creators hit the big numbers, seems to ramp up the polarization we are facing.

Yea, there’s dumb stuff happening out there, but because of it, the last thing we want to do is bury our heads in the sand—we are way too smart and diverse for that. In my opinion, it’s this mix of who we are, and what we individually bring to the game, no matter what side of the fence we are on is what makes us rich as humans—and that’s one of the whys driving me to stay on course in growing this blog—the stories you have to share, and hope we are all taking them to heart.

Per the above, I know in some of it, I might sound like a conspiracy theorist. But I sincerely promise you, I’m not. I’m just a passionate artist and communicator sharing what I feel is a worthy community build, outreach, and message:

The value of any one person is truly remarkable—and the individual impact we have on one another is limitless. 

A belief and truth that I’ve studied for a lifetime, and in such, the driver for why and what I do. 

Alright, another vulnerability: I’ve moved. I no longer reside in Los Angeles (although it will always be my home). I tried something different in my vocation. Took on a contracted project. One, that in the end, turned out to be a rather painful experience; and as a result, I now live in a Utah suburb. A culture quite different from what I am accustomed to. But my airport commute to LA is only 90 minutes. Kind of like rush hour on the 101 to the 134 to the I-5 to downtown. So all is good. 

Yup, another life chapter for certain. Yet in the spirit of the mission and community that we are building, a place with so many strangers to meet and lessons to learn. However, because of my location—30 miles outside of Salt Lake City—it looks like my days of strolling populated streets have changed. But as we grow, and hopefully with a little more funding, I hope to hit the road in sharing state-hopping stranger-meeting moments.