You know the thing you’ve been avoiding?
The email that you know if going to tke some thought…
The boring task that simply needs your time…
The uncomfortable action.
Yeah, that one.
Do that first- then you’ll feel like king of the world.
Goodness, he’s good isn’t he?
And I think its more than just being a nice guy.
His entire orientation on Grand Designs is one of awe and possibility.
He meets people in the very moment of potential- the moment before the birth of their building.
The word ‘build’ captures what he does perfectly. He’s all about building; building people up, building excitement, pleasure in architecture and building a connection between us watching at home and the brave souls on the journey to create their home.
Long live Kev!
What is a sparkle noticer?
It’s what I call the people out in the world that notice real presence. I’ve been to 5 different states in the US across the past few months and everywhere I go I’m trying to make connections with strangers.
Buying a coffee, passing a stranger, getting in a lift; these are all opportunities to connect with another human.
And the rule is you can’t just say hi and look away.
You have to actually be present. You have to SPARKLE.
Sadly, most people are quite closed off to strangers. I turn on my sparkliest most present eyes and give them a sweet little hello… and there’s often not a response.
And that’s okay! I get it, it’s a bit weird.
But now and then… you get a sparkle noticer.
Someone who catches the sparkle and notices the real life presence you’re bringing to a moment.
They see you seeing them and thus you see each other!
The goal for me isn’t to be the person always saying hi with a warm smile.
The goal is to become the person who notices the sparkles when they fly my way.
We all get caught up and walled off day to day. But if we let ourselves, we can be a sparkle noticer and the world is a deliciously good place when you let that in.
It’s important to catch them…
The magic moments.
We spend so much time working, aspiring and perspiring toward outcomes. When the awesome moments happen it’s so easy to move on quickly.
I have a dated database in Notion called “Magic Moments”.
When a cool little thing happens, I put it in there- the date is already added.
It’s the best thing in the world to read back over these and be flooded by all the good:
-The stranger who smiled at me on the bus
-The unexpected sunset view from the hotel window
-That apple that was so great and crunchy.
They come and go so quickly you might miss them. Get in the habit of recording them, you won’t regret it.
It’s not what you get it’s who you become.
It’s nearing the end of March which means we’re a good chunk through the year now. That also means it’s a good time to re-look at those goals you set over new years.
Goals can get us trapped in the idea that we have to ‘get’ a ‘thing’.
Get a deadline, a certain amount of money or some status symbol…
What I’m being reminded of this time around is that the ‘thing’ you get in pursuit isn’t even the real prize.
What really matters is who you become.
You don’t really want to win the Oscar- you want to become the type of actor who could win the Oscar.
You don’t want to run the marathon, but become the person that can.
The accolade or the toy isn’t the thing, but who you become is.
Set the goal, sure. But know the real prize.
We should be nice to pessimists.
They say that pessimists are optimists who have been disappointed.
We’re all doing the best we can with what we’ve got. No one is trying to be unkind or hard to be around.
We should probably just be nicer to everyone.
I like thinking about the true meaning of words.
We overuse many words- I think we all went through a phase of saying everything was “raaaandom”
One that really get’s thrown around is “awesome”… and look I don’t mind it.
But remember what it means. Awesome. The thing you’re referring to makes you feel awe. It is literally awe inspiring. It’s not ‘neat’ it invokes AWE.
I think that’s awesome.
I love when people greet others with ‘what’s good?’
It’s kind of cool and I don’t really know what it means in that context.
But I like what it makes me think of. What’s good? A cup of tea on a rainy day.
What’s good? A grilled cheese sandwich.
What’s good? So many things!
We get what we ask for. I’d like to ask myself what’s good more often.
“..And it is a privilege to love everything before death can touch it.” – Eboni Booth, from the play Primary Trust.
We are endlessly lucky to live this life. That means we’re lucky to see brilliant sunsets and we’re lucky to wait for our internet browser to load.
This whole thing is a miracle.
What are do you appreciate right now that you would usually take for granted?
One of my favourite things about acting is we have to make something that isn’t real feel authentic.
You don’t do that by being really good at lying, by the way. You do that by being really good at being real.
Actors aren’t liars, they’re truth tellers.
I’m amazed at how authenticity cuts through. I watch a video of a thought leader I really respect and I can feel their words, I understand them not from their words, but the heart behind the words.
Authenticity cuts through. We can get caught up in trying to make things slick or perfect but at the end of it all, if your intentions are pure and in congruence with what you’re trying to do. It’ll come through.
It’s the great gift us humans have. We don’t need you to be perfect, we can feel you.
We’re made of blood and bones and our hearts are running all the time.
We can feel you.
