Nothing lasts forever.

Exhausted! First day of school with my students. Glad to see they’re all doing well and are safe from COVID - my schools are in communities in Los Angeles that have been hit incredibly hard. Between helping my own kids with their work, teaching, and writing, I am exhausted.

Been thinking a lot about the idea of transition and how empowering it feels and how scary. It’s always great to pursue something you love. And it’s great to be able to pay bills and raise a family while you pursue that passion. But at a certain point the actual transitional move - from one career to the next - will have to be made; a leap of faith is inevitable. The fear of “not making” it must drive you to just “make it.”

I think about my students - 9th graders - as they begin 2021 learning online and within 5 months they will be 10th graders. I think about America transitioning to a new administration. Covid and the vaccine. Our current living situation. My wife’s job. And the more I think about things the more I realize how much our lives are nothing more than a constant state of change.

My students and I discussed the idea of change - as a way to set goals for the upcoming school year - and I offered them a quote from Marcus Aurelius on change:

For my students, I want them to understand that the power of perception and mindset is greater than the opinions and thoughts of others. That change is the only constant in life and how you respond to change is what catapults someone to success or dooms them to failure.

For me, as a writer, it’s obvious to say that a script or a story is always in a state of change. This is true on a literal level. But figuratively, the act of creation is about experiencing change and transition first hand. Stories are about transition - that’s it.

Today’s Accomplishments

• First meeting with The Wild Bunch writer’s group. Got some great feedback from my peers and am looking forward to implementing them soon.

• Watched a panel sponsored by the WGA on transitioning to TV writing from another career. Very inspirational and some practical tips to think about.

• Wrote a draft of an expanded story document for my new pilot.

• Wrote this blog post.

Tomorrow’s Tasks

• Meet with accountability group.

• Work on expanded story document - a more detailed description of the story - of my new pilot.

• Revise at least the teaser of THE NOISE WITHIN - gotta get this script revised and out for notes.

Today’s Story Worthy Moment

I started class today with a brief introduction to Stoicism and Marcus Aurelius’ 10 Habits of Self-Discipline. Teens love philosophy, and I figured this would be a good way to hook them into crafting goals for semester 2.

During one part of the video a student wrote in the chat box: Do you think you need passion to have a purpose in life?

Fantastic question (from a student who wants to be a lawyer).

After a brief discussion involving the rest of the class, I gave my take on passion vs. purpose. I told the student that passion and purpose are two things that are essential to have a happy life. The importance is to know how they support each other. Having a passion will guide you to your purpose, but it won’t replace your purpose. And conversely, having a purpose can help define what you’re passionate about.

We then had a class discussion about passion and what it means to be passionate about something.

It was one of those moments in teaching when you’re enthralled by the level of detail, sophistication, and enthusiasm demonstrated by you’re students.