As a reader of this blog, chances are you are pretty committed to your growth and development. Perhaps you strive to live with conscious intention. Or you realize that you are here for a purpose and you want to align your life around that purpose. Maybe you want your presence here to matter in some way – you want to make a difference in your world. Or it could be that there is something that won’t let go of you – a dream or a vision – something that you just “can’t not” pursue.
Following this path can get pretty intense. In the great desire to live a “conscious” life, one can become obsessed with reading all of the right books, going to all the right workshops, learning from all of the right teachers, finding the perfect spiritual practice, and…and…and…
Frankly, sometimes it can get to be too much. Sometimes, we just need a break!
Enter filmmaker Nic Askew. Nic is well known and highly respected for his inspiring and often provocative “Soul Biographies” – six-minute documentaries on the human experience. He does powerful and profound work, and I enjoy sharing his films here from time to time. Yet in the last few months, as I’ve worked with Nic and gotten to know him, I’ve learned that he also has a brilliantly quirky, irreverent sense of humor.
Not so long ago, Nic was hanging out in the “Personal Development” section of a bookstore. As he perused the many book titles, such as Change Your Life In 7 Days and Upgrade Your Brain, it suddenly struck him as very funny that anyone would think that they could actually learn about these things through reading a book!
Then there were the “how to” books – How To Be Brilliant, How To Get Things Done, How To Do Just About Everything, How To Have an Outstanding Life, How To Make Life Happen, How To Have Kick-Ass Ideas.
As my friend Toni would say, “Really?! Are you serious?!?”
Just for fun, Nic started taking photographs of book covers. And soon, those book covers were starring in their very own little three-minute personal growth documentary. He calls it, “The Perilous Journey of Becoming a Someone.” Watch it for a great reminder to not take ourselves too seriously – that the path to enlightenment can also be playful!