Rockets, MJ the Musical, moments, and what we really need (weekly wrap #011)
"The whole show was stacked with peak moments. Beyond what I previously thought was possible in that time window.... it really inspired me to think about the art of stacking peak moments."
Welcome! My weekly wrap posts/emails are a light and easy wrap up of some cool/interesting/fun things I’ve found or am thinking about over the past week.
Enjoy!
Something random that inspired me
It’s not the rockets. I’ve never been into rockets. When I was a kid, dinosaurs and volcanoes were my jam. Aircraft at some point too, but never really got into rockets specifically.
The thing about this video though is the persistence, grit, experimentation and iteration that is just amazing. And seeing how this is inspiring and relevant to so many other areas of life… well… it’s not rocket science. ;-)
Something else that inspired me
We went to watch MJ the Musical.
I am not an excitable person. When I was in uni and went to a cricket game for the first time at the SCG, I was the guy sitting in my chair quietly applauding at a boundary shot while everyone around me was jumping up out of their seats and screaming and cheering. Honestly, my temperament has not changed much since then, but this was something just simply something else that was beyond what I had imagined.
And it’s not because I’m a die-hard MJ fan - I am a fan, for sure, but would not take it that far. But the sheer passion, brilliance and energy that a bunch of humans put into this production, with so many different areas of specialisation coming together in a harmony to make something work like this - it was truly magical and inspiring.
The thing I took away the most: Moments.
The whole show was stacked with peak moments. Beyond what I previously thought was possible in that time window. And besides being a masterclass in storytelling, it really inspired me to think about the art of stacking peak moments. I’ll reflect more on this at another time.
On top of all that, the story of what one man - Michael Jackson - was able to accomplish in his life, pushing a large boulder up a hill to assert his own individuality and genius, despite so many people pushing against that boulder from the other side, itself is inspiring.
Sort of.
I mean, Michael Jackson was well and truly a freak. Not in the way the media harassed him about for so much of his life, but in the sense that he was a freak of nature and a truly unique genius, despite being one of the most troubled public figures in history, which makes his story remarkable but quite unrelatable.
That makes it, in my opinion, quite tricky to take inspiration from - even if I had any aspirations to be the next MJ or the MJ of some other field. I don’t.
What I do find extremely inspiring about Michael Jackson’s story is that you could have a million defensible reasons to quit, implode, self-destruct, etc. But if you have a determination to express yourself authentically and heal the world in some small way within your influence, you can still make that change.
Even if you don’t survive the whole journey yourself
Something I’ve been pondering
Besides the above, this reflection from Mark Manson:
You don’t need your partner. You need to be loved.
You don’t need your job. You need to feel secure.
You don’t need to be beautiful, cool, or popular. You need to feel appreciated.
Stop mistaking the things that provide for your needs as the needs themselves.
- Mark Manson
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Dev