#92 Beignet in the Kitchen
01 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Dear Rhys,
One thing I wouldn’t have anticipated from a global pandemic would be the amount of certain foods I miss.
I should clarify that we’re fortunate enough to not be food insecure. I still have plenty of food stocked up from my bigger grocery run before the outbreak and between Nana and Papa plus the aunts, we’ve been fed extremely well… probably better than we’d be eating ordinarily.
But there are other foods that we just get cut off from.
Seems obvious for me, but I miss pho. Making it at home is hard and can’t compete with $8 bowls in Little Saigon. Also sushi, poke, etc. I’ve been re-cooking delivered foods to be safe, obviously, I can’t do that with sushi.
I also miss cabeza tacos, the melty cheese of nachos, restaurant caliber guacamole, and most crispy fried foods… those especially are things I could perhaps make, but aren’t worth the hassle unless you’re making them for masses of people. I also miss Filipino food. I can make some of it, and the aunts have made us some, but there’s plenty more I miss.
I hope our favorite restaurants survive this lockdown, because I miss so many of them.
#93 Pandemic Dad
02 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
I hope we never look at people the same way we used to.
In the future, when hospitals no longer feel like war zones, when we no longer scrub down packages before opening them, when we can again stop for a conversation across the samples at Trader Joe’s, when we have places to drive and fly, when kids are back at school, and when we can go out for pho again, I hope we remember how essential the people around us are.
I hope we keep having the highest levels of respect
🏥 for the custodial teams and technicians that keep hospitals clean and running
📬 for the letter carriers and delivery people who help get us what we need
🍞 for the grocery workers and truck drivers who keep our food supply systems running
🚃 for the flight crews, public transit operators, and construction workers who help us go where we need to
👩🏾🏫 for the under appreciated teachers who serve our kids every day
🥜 for the farmers and cooks who make sure we don’t get hungry
For the most part, these jobs aren’t often romanticized. When career books talk about finding your dream job, these aren’t often the ones they refer to. But it’s to our disadvantage when we overlook how important these roles are.
The people around the globe who have done the best job of helping me feel hopeful about the world are remarkably ordinary. Moms and dads and farmers and drivers who represent the best of us.
I hope we always remember how to look at each other like heroes.
#94 Johnny Just-Stand-There
03 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
They told me that the first year of his life was gonna be the fastest twelve months of my life. They didn’t really account for a global pandemic, but having Rhys at this age gives me something to appreciate about the sudden slow down.
We left our place in San Diego for relatively safer confines in LA and Bakersfield. Rhys handled those strange transitions pretty well. He got to spend a lot of time with his Bakersfield grandparents and his two aunts, one of whom he’s named after. He’s also slowly understanding how his other grandma suddenly exists inside Dad’s phone for right now- along with all the other virtual friends he’s met.
After hitting a little sleep regression, he’s starting to get back on track. He laughs a lot now, mostly at two things: me pretending to eat him like a zombie and Beignet barking at skateboarders.
He also started to try some frozen avocados to help soothe his teeth sprouts and introduce solids. Mixed reviews from him so far, but it’s a big step closer towards guac.
We planned these throwback Phillies duds for baseball’s opening day, but that among other things has been cancelled. Honestly, the best counter to all the disappointments from cancelled things has been simple gratitude. And that gets so much easier when I remember that I now get way more time to hang with this guy.
#95 Becoming Better Grownups
04 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
THIS BOOK!
If you’re not already following Brad Montague, you’re missing out on one of the internet’s brightest gems. He’s made my world a good deal brighter for years and years- online and IRL.
When Brad announced this book, I was so excited. Becoming Better Grownups was the first book I ever preordered, because I wanted it to launch with a bang. I even had it sent to my office, to make sure it wouldn’t get lost like some packages that go to my house. Then we all went into quarantine and my office shut down. So I ordered a second copy to be sent to my in laws where we’re staying. I’m halfway through after just one day!
It’s a bit unfortunate for a pandemic to mess up this book launch, cancelling promo events and speaking gigs and what not. But in many ways it seems like a book about being better grownups is so needed for this moment.
I can’t help but think about how our world right now looks from a kid’s POV. Even from the POV of the inner child in each of us. The following little nugget puts into words how I’m feeling being a new dad during a global crisis:
Each generation rediscovers for themselves the magic of the world, but also the tragic nature of the world. How they choose to disregard this or engage with it has a lot to do with the grownups around them. Better grownups are joy rebels inviting us to grander views of ourselves and what we can do. They help everyone they come in contact with rise to new ideas of what’s possible. In disagreements, in disasters, in deaths of hamsters, they still find ways to invite people into something beautiful.
#96 Kingdom Hearts All-In-One
05 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
And then the world got very, very small.
Right now, my world has three bedrooms. A population of five, unless you count the dog. It’s been quite the shift from my normal life. I’m an explorer at heart, but suddenly there’s nowhere to go. Maybe the backyard.
Most of my creative work is inspired by travel. My work is connected to places on the other side of the world. Places that are now off limits. But I do believe that your inner creativity can play on any playground. Sometimes restrictions bring out ideas you wouldn’t have had otherwise, like the “rules” on Whose Line.
Since my photography isn’t the most exciting these days, I started this new project. #andtheworldgotsmaller Surprisingly, so much detail goes into trying to make a mini-me in Photoshop. Things I don’t always think about matter. Focus. Light intensity. The direction of shadows. And the finished product is always imperfect but the journey is fun.
These days remind me a bit of my time in South Africa. When I visited in 2013, I stayed in a children’s home in a neighborhood that was unsafe for me to venture into. I didn’t have easy access to transport outside, and I had very limited internet access. What did I do? I read a book every day until I ran out. I wrote and wrote and wrote. I learned new ways to pray and meditate. And I learned and grew so much by exploring inwards. And I really bonded with the kids who I shared a hallway with.
If you’re a creative, you can still create. And if you’re an explorer, you can definitely still explore. The inward journey is limitless.
#97 Naps & Snacks
06 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
I made a decision to make meaningful adventures a priority over comfort and “normalcy.” Between 2010 and 2014, I managed to make my way to 30 countries, off of an extremely small budget. How?
🔰 In 2010, I couch-surfed for 4 months.
🔰 In 2011, I couch-surfed for 2 more months.
🔰 In 2012, I lived in a van for about 5 months.
🔰 In 2013, I lived in a children’s center as a volunteer for 3 months, with my parents for 4, and out of a backpack for 3 months.
🔰 I lived in Bakersfield for a rent of $300 for 9 months between 2013 and 2014.
If you were to estimate about $1000 of California housing costs for each of those months, that’s $30,000 saved.
Of course there was still privilege involved. I didn’t have to worry about taking care of anyone and I didn’t have student loans to immediately tend to. But overall, I found that some creative choices can help you do a LOT with a little.
I still try to apply that lesson, although probably not in as extreme fashion as used to- sleeping in an airport to save $20 of lodging, or splitting a $15 twin-sized hostel bed. But I do think if you regularly ask “what’s really necessary?” and “is there any other way to do this?” you’ll open up so many doors.
#98 Small World Photo Series
07 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
The brief appearance of a bird that perches by the window, worthy of attention for the brief moment before it flees elsewhere.
The rays of morning sunlight that strike through condensed window panes asking you to start the day just a bit more slowly before jumping into activity.
The old favorite song that pops up on shuffle during our commute that invites us to think of where we were four years ago. A new favorite that’s in the process of imprinting itself onto the present moment.
I think if you take all these little things and add them all up, they start to turn into a giant invitation to a fully engaged life. A life where there’s lots of room for spontaneity and adventure and unexpected discoveries. A life where wonder and exploring are priorities. A life where things are far from perfect but each day serves as an opportunity to leave things a little better than we found it.
Sometimes, it saddens and surprises me to see how many of us turn down this invitation day after day, but I also don’t want to judge people for doing this since it’s something I’ve been guilty of before. It’s like going through life asleep.
The tasks of a single day become obstacles to “finish off” rather than things to savor and enjoy.
We exhaust ourselves with activities related to our survival, that we run out of energy to pursue our purpose.
We seek entertainment as a distraction, rather than experiences designed to challenge us and make us grow.
Sometimes, it takes a major disruption before we realize how valuable life is. And how every single day, even the seemingly ordinary ones, are too miraculous and improbable to let pass without coming fully alive.
#99 Window Aunt
08 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
They told me that the first year of his life was gonna be the fastest twelve months of my life. They didn’t really account for a global pandemic, but having Rhys at this age gives me something to appreciate about the sudden slow down.
We left our place in San Diego for relatively safer confines in LA and Bakersfield. Rhys handled those strange transitions pretty well. He got to spend a lot of time with his Bakersfield grandparents and his two aunts, one of whom he’s named after. He’s also slowly understanding how his other grandma suddenly exists inside Dad’s phone for right now- along with all the other virtual friends he’s met.
After hitting a little sleep regression, he’s starting to get back on track. He laughs a lot now, mostly at two things: me pretending to eat him like a zombie and Beignet barking at skateboarders.
He also started to try some frozen avocados to help soothe his teeth sprouts and introduce solids. Mixed reviews from him so far, but it’s a big step closer towards guac.
We planned these throwback Phillies duds for baseball’s opening day, but that among other things has been cancelled. Honestly, the best counter to all the disappointments from cancelled things has been simple gratitude. And that gets so much easier when I remember that I now get way more time to hang with this guy.
#100 Bib
09 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Enthusiasts are likely to be recognized for their impossibly long bucket lists, impressive collections of passport stamps, and collections of stories from bizarre jobs throughout the years. Just beyond the obvious, however, there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
The pages ahead will explore all that, but for now, here’s a peek at what sits beneath the surface:
An attraction to good
Enthusiasts are drawn to goodness, in every form. We have strong appetites for things we’d love to do, places we’d love to go. It’s within our nature to seek out fun. We can spot the positives in imperfect situations and figure out how to make the most of them. It doesn’t take much for us to get excited about an idea or an opportunity.
Sometimes this hypersensitivity to the good parts of everything makes decision-making very difficult. Saying yes to one opportunity is exciting, but also comes with the tinge of disappointment from saying no to the other opportunities. This can apply just as much to deciding what city to move to as it applies to picking an item on a menu to order. The Fear of Missing Out is a very real side-effect of a sensitivity to good.
A tendency towards optimism
Enthusiasts are optimists. This is at both a global level and a personal level. Of course, this doesn’t mean we never get discouraged. But we believe wholeheartedly that a better world is possible. This belief can lead us towards disappointment, but it can also lead to us surprising ourselves.
At a more day-to-day level, optimism might simply look like packing our calendars full of activity, always believing that there’s enough room to fit in another good thing. It can also look like signing ourselves up for tasks that might be a little out of our league, believing in our ability to rise to the challenge and learn new skills.
Living like this has its pros-and-cons. Sometimes you exhaust yourself and let down other people. Other times, you surprise yourself, and accomplish much more than seemed possible simply by being willing to try. Either way, you seem to gravitate to this state of optimism by default.
A sense of urgency
Enthusiasts seem to have an innate understanding of how precious time is. While we’re usually future-focused, planning our next big adventures, we do so with a sense of determination because we know that the future is fast approaching.
I have yet to hear anyone articulate how time seems to move faster year after year than writer Elizabeth Gilbert. I suspect she’s a fellow enthusiast. In her book City of Girls she explains, “after a certain age, time just drizzles down upon your head like rain in the month of March: you’re always surprised at how much of it can accumulate, and how fast.”
That means that our lives frequently feel like ballgames entering the later innings. We can’t waste an at-bat. If we aren’t using each year to bring us closer to our big dreams in life, then they’re moving us closer to a grave where those dream remain undone. Yeah, we can be a bit dramatic about this urgency sometimes, but that’s how it often feels.
#101 Potato Boy
10 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
It isn’t lost on me that this outbreak happened on queue with the Lenten season. Today is Good Friday, and I think it’s an appropriate reminder that even for believers in hope, sometimes the right thing to do is to sit with the loss.
Even though I’ve now been in quarantine for four weeks, I am still quite surprised that the virus that was on the periphery of my attention a month ago has now disrupted life around me and around the world.
I’m reminded that it can be easy to mistake comfort for invincibility. On the global spectrum, I live in relative comfort. I have access to things like healthcare and food security that many don’t. All it took was one week, however, to exhaust the hospitals and grocery stores around me. We all have our own vulnerabilities.
The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, a day that reminds us of how from dust we came, and to dust we shall return. It’s a day on our liturgical calendar that invites us to think about the vulnerability of our lives, and how our lives are short and fragile. As notifications fill my phone screen of New York City, Spain, and Italy reaching new tragic milestones in lives lost to the virus, that reminder feels inescapable.
I have a lot to say about how the story doesn’t end there and about how we’re people of hope. But all the talk about hope and resurrection feels cheapened if we don’t first acknowledge the reality of grief, loss, and death that is part of our human experience. We’re called to mourn with those who mourn, just like Jesus showed us at Lazarus’ tomb. Right now, millions are mourning everything from cancelled plans to the loss of lifelong partners. One of the things I’ve learned from our partners, particularly in Thailand and Haiti, is that in these moments where things feel most devastating is when hope gets to work.
#102 Venturing Out
11 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
You know how so many Christmas movies have a plot line that involves Christmas being apparently ruined? Like, the house catches on fire, Santa’s sleigh has some sort of mechanical defect, the Grinch steals everything, and so on? What inevitably happens after that?
All the little townspeople come out and sing or something, and everyone remembers that Christmas isn’t about all the pizzazz, but things like hope and spirit and salvation and music and so on.
This year, for those of us who celebrate Easter, it’s kind of like that.
🎴
I don’t frequently share thoughts on this subject but I saw this Tweet by Dan White that really struck a chord—
Covid is a revealing what the Church is about.
Some Churches: How do we deliver an excellent product that people need every week?
Other Churches: How do we equip our people for loving their neighbors every week?
💠
The churches who prioritize impressing people are increasingly unimpressive. Churches that prioritize winning arguments are increasingly unconvincing. Churches that look to love and serve the most vulnerable? That never goes out of style.
The other week, our church put together a phone tree, making sure all our families had someone reaching out to them. I got a lot of voicemail inboxes, but I managed to get ahold of a few people on my list.
Most of our church is older, so I would ask if there was anything I could do to help. Nothing was particularly Earth-shaking. One guy just wanted to chat for a while since he lived alone. Another woman needed help with Zoom. That was about it, but it felt so much more like a core function of church compared to the big budget egg hunts and celebrity guest speakers missing from this year’s celebration.
🌅
At a time where we can no longer stand out because of our products and programs, we will be known for our priorities and the people we serve.
#103 RHYS’ FIRST EASTER
12 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Rhys’ First Easter! Of course this one feels a bit different.
What does it mean to celebrate resurrection and the idea of new life in the middle of a global pandemic?
I wrote a little something for the @plantwpurpose blog. It’s a more personal piece than my usual work there. (See that link in my bio, friends) This week we’ll launch a campaign on how to help our rural communities after COVID but today’s post is about what they’ve taught me. As agriculturalists, they understand very well how when something dies and goes into the ground, it can give way to the emergence of new life.
What new world can be born from the end of the old one?
I hope we never stop making a priority out of considering the safety of our more vulnerable friends and neighbors. The elderly, the poor, the immunocompromised.
I hope we learn to look at the people stocking the shelves at our grocery store, growing our coffee in Tanzania, or keeping the floors of our hospitals sanitary as dignified and essential.
I hope we rediscover the virtue of cooperation instead of an us-versus-them approach.
I believe we can be better after all this.
We’re resurrection people, after all.
#104 ps4 games
13 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
I miss running!
I know, there are some ways to safely run and socially distance but a) I’m still trying to cut risks as low as possible and b) it just isn’t the same! If COVID-19 didn’t basically cancel every marathon, I’d likely be training for my third half.
🏃🏾♂️🏃🏾♂️🏃🏾♂️
A decade ago, I would’ve been surprised to hear myself say a phrase like <<I miss running>> but it’s true. Number 1️⃣9️⃣ on my list of things I’m glad I did in my twenties (#philippestwenties20) is getting into half-marathoning.
👟👟👟
Back in the day, I played a lot of sports, but I always thought of running as the thing I HAD to do in order to play the game. I couldn’t imagine having fun just running on its own. But that changed when I signed up for the Eugene Half in 2016. As my training progressed, I kept feeling like I surprised myself with longer distances and better times. I felt healthier than ever.
My last race was the San Diego Half in 2018. And I think I have a lot more races ahead of me, even though it’s harder to find the time to train with a kid and a full time job.
Here are a few races I’d love to do someday:
👟 A race in another country. Believe it or not, I looked into the Nairobi half marathon once, just for the irony
👟 Using a race as a chance to explore the heart of a city I don’t know too well.
👟One where I aim for a PR, or a 2:00 Time. Up until now, I’ve just ran to finish.
👟 A long distance relay. I’ve looked at one in Idaho that connects a bunch of breweries.
👟 Also, Hood To Coast
👟 Maybe a race in a National Park sometime
Anyone else have a similarly surprising relationships with running?
#105 THE BABY THRONE
14 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
How do you poke at the travel itch when you can’t exactly scratch it? One of my favorite ways is with foreign films!
🎞🎞🎞
Admittedly, it can be hard to know where to look for good ones. You watch Parasite, and you’re like, yes! Give me more! But then all you find is each country’s equivalent of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
I’ve got your back, my friend.
🎥
My latest quarantine project is this: The 2020 Stuck-At-Home International Film Festival. Go ahead and draw yourself a festival pass on a piece of cardboard. We’ve got some good ones to watch.
Here’s how it’ll work: Each week(ish) I’ll email out a new batch of films from around the world, along with links of where to stream them, since they can be found all over the internet. Most of these will be free, but one per week might be behind a paywall meant to support local theatres and film festivals.
Here’s a short list of some early favorites:
Wild Goose Lake (China)
Cake (Pakistan)
Happy As Lazzaro (Italy)
Parasite (South Korea)
Atlantics (Senegal)
Metro Manila (Philippines)
Trash (Brazil)
#106 Miss Y’ALL
15 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
When was the last time you found yourself totally caught up in a moment of wonder? A moment where time just seemed to freeze, where all your senses switched on, and you could hardly believe where you were?
This is increasingly one of my favorite questions to ask. It’s also a really awkward question to ask, sometimes, because people don’t get asked it often. It catches people off guard. It’s not an answer that people usually keep in their back pocket- especially when I ask for the most recent moment of wonder rather than the most profound moment of wonder. It can also be troubling when people realize it’s been a while since their last moment of wonder.
But, when people do find their answer, their eyes light up. Their guard drops. Even for just a little moment, they become childlike again. And if you need to disarm someone towards kindness and empathy, this is a good place to be.
It’s a question I try and ask myself too. Socrates calls wonder the beginning of wisdom. I never want it to be too long.
#107 Quilt Time
16 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
A recent idea I saw challenged me a little bit.
I read a quote from a therapist on Instagram explaining how you can’t heal things that you refuse to grieve. The way that challenges me is that I have a natural tendency to avoid grief. In fact, the perspective I’ve had on sadness for a long time was almost the opposite of what the therapist said– sometimes by acknowledging a feeling of defeat, I felt like I was letting that thing beat me.
I’m thankful to be challenged this way, because I think that therapist was more right than I’d been. In fact, avoiding grief might actually be a way to let the circumstance win.
I do have things to grieve at the moment. March was supposed to be a lot of fun, with some of my closest friends meeting Rhys for the first time. April should’ve been a good one too, between Earth Day and then my birthday in New Orleans. At the same time, I’m thankful for the slowdown, for the time I’ve been able to spend with Rhys, and for the refreshed perspective.
Grief isn’t a paint-by-numbers sort of thing and I guess even conflicting ingredients like gratitude can fit into the recipe somewhere. I just want to make sure that I’m healing and among the healers. If grief is what it takes, then I’m willing to learn how. Instinctive or not.
#108 QUARANTINE PORTRAIT
17 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
One of the things I heard early on during this epidemic was someone explaining how this event would challenge just about everybody’s way of seeing the world. No matter what you believe, there will be something that happens over the next several months that just forces you to reassess.
I was hopeful when I heard that. I think it’s overall a positive thing for people to reconsider their beliefs and assumptions and to keep on allowing them to be challenged. However, there also seem to be a lot of cases where I don’t see that happening. People who simply parrot whatever their favorite commentators have to say. People who can only comment on people’s responses based on their political affiliations. People who decide how they feel about a certain approach just based on who endorses it or who supports it.
I think if you go through this whole pandemic, and your point of view hasn’t shifted at all, you’ve missed a truly major opportunity to learn and grow.
Of course, that means I’ve got to be mindful of the ways I’ve let my own beliefs be challenged too. I think the most obvious example right now, is that I’ve been forced to see fear and wisdom and boldness in terms that are a lot less black-and-white.
I used to be pretty insistent on love-over-fear. But now I’m also seeing that acting cautiously can often fit within the framework of love. It’s not an all-or-nothing thing, most of the time.
#109 CORONAVIRUS SHOPPING LIST
18 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
There’s this alarm set on my phone for 3:00 PM. It’s labeled “🙏🏽 - ********/Rhys.” I haven’t set it in over a year.
I think about it often, though.
For a while, that was my afternoon nudge to keep praying in one of the hardest stretches of my life. We’d been trying to have a kid for nearly a year with no success. If you haven’t figured it out, those ********s hide the name we would’ve chosen for a girl. Most of the time my alarm went off I didn’t feel like praying, cause it felt like it didn’t matter.
🌌🌌🌌
This sums up what 2018 was like for me. Then in March of 2019, we learned that Rhys was on his way to join the family that fall.
After that two year saga, I wondered what the next episode of life would hold. Sometimes I like to think of my life like a screenwriter... with all that just went down the past two seasons, maybe a quiet year wouldn’t be so bad? Maybe some trips? I’d been eager to start traveling again.
Turns out the script includes a dystopian pandemic.
👑
I saw a picture of the Queen’s image and quote projected over an empty Trafalgar Square saying “We’ll get through this. We’ll see each other again.” Someone commented, if you saw this picture a year ago, what would you think happened?
⛲️
I keep thinking about what the past two years have taught me and how it relates to right now.
Hope isn’t an emotion. Hope isn’t a rational path that convinces us how everything will work itself out. Hope is a choice.
#110 Father Son Lockdown
19 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Between being on the cusp of my 30th and seeing a lot of new faces on here lately, seems like the right time for a little intro by the way of some fun facts.
🌐
1️⃣ My dream job… at least one of them… would be hosting a show that involves traveling to different places and highlighting local cultures AND the way ordinary people there are helping each other solving problems related to justice and environmental issues. The cool thing is, this really isn’t that different from my real job as Creative Director for @plantwpurpose, and producing things like the #grassrootspodcast and video projects are part of my role.
🎇
2️⃣ People my age and up don’t seem to value learning new things. I want to resist that by regularly having my mind blown. It’s a big reason I love travel, reading, meeting people with oddly specific passions.
🗺
3️⃣ I’m more than a little bit obsessed with maps. A weird thing I do for a brain break while working sometimes is look for hard-to-get-to places on Google Maps and drop in via Street View to have a look around. Some of my favorite spots to explore this way lately have been: Chad, rural Mongolia, small towns in the Yukon, and the island of Tonga.
🎤
4️⃣ An odd college job of mine was to set up audio for concerts that would happen on campus. I was terrible at it and could never keep the wires straight. But I loved the weird encounters it led to. My favorites include getting Girl Talk to share his catering with me, helping Death Cab get access to some treadmills, and getting trapped backstage with Lindsay Lohan during a Ludacris show.
🏔
5️⃣ My backup plan for life is going off to the Andes to be an alpaca farmer.
#111 DAILY WALKS
20 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
The Stuck-at-Home International Film Festival goes on!
It’s dawning on me how long it will likely be before I can safely go out and do one of my favorite things again… traveling. I miss taking in the immersive feeling of being in a new place, taking in the sounds of a plaza, the smells of a roadside eatery, and the simple act of discovery.
All that makes me appreciate the international films I’ve been watching while in quarantine even more.
The United States is the world’s top exporter of movies. Hollywood films are regularly shown all over the world, giving international audiences multiple opportunities to see portrayals of American life. On the other hand, very rarely does an international film get the distribution it needs to be widely seen in the U.S. That makes things a one-way street.
Other film industries are catching up, though! Bollywood releases more films each year than any other country. Nollywood– Nigeria’s film industry– might catch people by surprise as the third largest film industry in the world.
If you’ve seen one film from, say, Brazil, you’ve still only seen one impression of Brazil, which is why I’m including multiple films from the same country in this series. Booksmart and Ford vs. Ferrari would give you very different impressions of American culture, after all.
By the way… would you ever guess the country of origin of these other film industries based on their name and a movie poster from that country?
#112 SHORT WALKS
21 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Three years ago, I got to visit a remote Tanzanian area called Rombo. Looking at a map, it looks somewhat close to Mount Kilimanjaro, but getting there made it feel like it wasn’t close to anything.
To get to Rombo, we had to take an all-wheel drive jeep up some extremely steep slopes. You know those cartoons where a supervillain lives on top of a very pointy mountain, and to get to their lair you have to take this narrow path that keeps spiraling upward? That’s what driving on the rocky road to Rombo felt like. The jeep we were in was pretty tough, but I still felt every pointy stone on the dirt road that we went over. The whole vehicle bumped and vibrated on its way up.
When we got to the village, community members rushed out towards us. They were holding and waving palm fronds, singing to us in Swahili and cheering at the top of their lungs. Tanzanian culture is extremely hospitable and puts an emphasis on welcoming people, but if I didn’t know any better, I would think they were cheering on our long trek up the mountain.
I visit these places because I love them. I also visit them for work. Going primarily on storytelling trips for Plant With Purpose.
While our organization helps these communities form groups where they can develop sustainable farming skills, land management plans, and economic empowerment, they haven’t been able to meet in over a month. Mass tree planting events haven’t been able to go on as scheduled. My colleagues working overseas have largely been confined to their homes as well.
The coronavirus is just as disruptive there as it is here. And over there, people were already facing quite difficult lives.
As of mid-April, there are around 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Africa, while testing is severely limited. A lot of talk has emerged lately about what things would look like if COVID-19 outbreaks were to strike the developing world. As of right now, around 80% of known active COVID-19 cases are in the United States and Europe, but if that were to change, what would happen?
#113 The Yuma Way House
22 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Happy, happy Earth Day. 🌎🌍🌏
This has been about as hectic of a week as I could’ve had without leaving the house. I helped Plant With Purpose launch a campaign to help our communities during the pandemic, then immediately turned around and created a guide for Earth Day at Home.
I’m sure you’ve seen those posts about how the Earth is healing while we’re all locked down and in quarantine. 🏔The Himalayas are visible from Punjab and Jalandahar for the first time in decades. The air pollution levels over Europe are way down. Lions are napping on usually busy South African roads.
There’s an impulse to celebrate all this. To look at it as nature’s chance to put points on the scoreboard while humans are in the penalty box. Isn’t this healing what we’ve wanted??
I think the one flaw to this perspective is that it overlooks how humans are part of creation. Thinking ourselves separate is what gets us into trouble.
Our wellness is connected with the health of our environment. There have been a bunch of studies showing how climate change has accelerated the risk of viral outbreaks, and this shouldn’t be taken as a story of humans versus the planet, but the fact that our health is so intertwined.
I think the narrative that we’re engaged in some sort of battle between humans and nature does more harm than good. That was the plot of The Happening, and we all know that was M. Night Shamaylan’s ultimate downfall. 🌿🌿🌿
I work for an environmental organization and lately we’ve had to pivot to make sure the communities we work in are safe during this pandemic. But that’s still totally in line with the message of loving all creation.
#114 OUTSIDE OFFICE
23 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Right around this time last year was when I went to Colombia. It was an extremely fast trip, cut even shorter by American Airlines screwups. But it was one of my most memorable overseas jaunts. 🇨🇴🇨🇴🇨🇴🇨🇴
My friend introduced me to members of a rural community that had been torn apart by the conflict and clashes between guerilla fighters and paramilitary members. They showed me the sites of deadly events, they told me their own stories of hiding and escaping. Most importantly, though, they all showed me how they were moving forward. From having ex-combatants participating in rehabilitation sessions, to ordinary community members creating small businesses in coffee and ecotourism so the next generation would have better options.
It’s easy to get discouraged by seeing groups at odds. Whether it’s as extreme as a civil war or just persistently toxic like the political headbutting we’re all familiar with. These community members in Colombia helped me see that moving forward might be difficult, but it definitely isn’t impossible. 🛫🛬🛫🛬
I’m in the middle of a stretch of time that’ll most likely be my longest gap in between international trips. I’ll be so excited when it’s safe to get out there again. But I’m at least thankful that my last journey out was such an impactful one.
This trip to Colombia makes number 1️⃣8️⃣ on my list of stuff I’m thankful I did before turning 30.
#115 ARBOR DAY STUDIES
24 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree,” declared Martin Luther.
🌳🌳🌳
Today is Arbor Day, and while we’re celebrating in the middle of a global pandemic, we are perhaps even more appreciative of trees and the act of planting trees. Why? Planting trees is an act of hope.
#116 SAVE PHO COW CALI
25 April 2020 // San Diego, California
What I wouldn’t do right now for a simple date night. Drop Rhys off at my mom’s for a couple hours. 🍿🍔🍺Maybe get tickets for Black Widow at the theatre that gives us half off their burgers with every ticket.
Or for a day out at dog beach. 🏖 Let Beignet run into the ocean since it’s pretty much the main way she gets bathed.
Or for baseball season. ⚾️ Starting April off with some high expectations for the Phillies that’ll most likely be dashed in mid-August.
A quirk of life is that we naturally take our “normal” for granted. I go further. I often look at normal as something to try and improve on. I’m often escaping “normal” to try and find adventure. I see things that are alright and ask “is there any way to make it better?” It’s a gift and curse. Being able to practice contentment and gratitude al ongside constant improvement is a skill that takes a lifetime to master.
Four years ago, when I had to spend a week in a hospital, I remember what a good feeling it was to get back to “normal,” when we were released. And I discovered that disruptions to our sense of normal help us appreciate things much more.
There are many ways I hope our world transforms post-pandemic. 🌍 But at the heart of it, I hope we appreciate our lives and those around us so much more. Here’s one other plot twist. That mindset doesn’t need to wait. If you really wanna work those gratitude muscles, start with what’s in front of you, locked up in the same house.
For me it’s time with my boy during his baby era. 🎮 And playing video games before bed with my wife. It’s the fact that I still have a job. The fact that we aren’t in financial jeopardy and can still order books and the occasional takeout. 🥡 It’s health. It’s the fact that this isn’t happening in the 90’. It’s Italian movies and Thai noodles. It’s having good times to look back on and forward to.
And it’s always more precious than we realize.
#117 Some Time hOME
26 April 2020 // San Diego, California
What I wouldn’t do right now for a simple date night. Drop Rhys off at my mom’s for a couple hours. 🍿🍔🍺Maybe get tickets for Black Widow at the theatre that gives us half off their burgers with every ticket.
Or for a day out at dog beach. 🏖 Let Beignet run into the ocean since it’s pretty much the main way she gets bathed.
Or for baseball season. ⚾️ Starting April off with some high expectations for the Phillies that’ll most likely be dashed in mid-August.
A quirk of life is that we naturally take our “normal” for granted. I go further. I often look at normal as something to try and improve on. I’m often escaping “normal” to try and find adventure. I see things that are alright and ask “is there any way to make it better?” It’s a gift and curse. Being able to practice contentment and gratitude al ongside constant improvement is a skill that takes a lifetime to master.
Four years ago, when I had to spend a week in a hospital, I remember what a good feeling it was to get back to “normal,” when we were released. And I discovered that disruptions to our sense of normal help us appreciate things much more.
There are many ways I hope our world transforms post-pandemic. 🌍 But at the heart of it, I hope we appreciate our lives and those around us so much more. Here’s one other plot twist. That mindset doesn’t need to wait. If you really wanna work those gratitude muscles, start with what’s in front of you, locked up in the same house.
For me it’s time with my boy during his baby era. 🎮 And playing video games before bed with my wife. It’s the fact that I still have a job. The fact that we aren’t in financial jeopardy and can still order books and the occasional takeout. 🥡 It’s health. It’s the fact that this isn’t happening in the 90’. It’s Italian movies and Thai noodles. It’s having good times to look back on and forward to.
And it’s always more precious than we realize.
#118 Mango Break
27 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
My friend Alejo brought up some pretty good questions a little while ago, and I’ve been thinking about my answers ever since. These aren’t the exact questions but they’re similar:
1️⃣ What have you learned about yourself?
2️⃣ How do you want to be different afterwards?
3️⃣ What can you do right now to move in that direction?
Undercooked answers at this moment are okay!
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
1️⃣ I’ve gotten more familiar with Emergency-Mode Philippe. There are some aspects of this guy that I like and others that I want to watch out for. I like that my gift of foresight can often serve others well. On the other side, I can get a little more irritable, and I don’t like seeing myself that way.
2️⃣ I didn’t realize how busy I was before, and how much I was occupying my time with random things. Now that I’ve seen some of the upsides of a freer schedule, I’d like to keep things more open, even when quarantine ends.
3️⃣ I’m trying to get better, again, with contemplative spiritual practices. I’m trying to focus my energies more on fewer things and to be better at going to bed when I’m tired instead of squeezing out one other thing.
#119 Dipping Toes
28 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
My friend Alejo brought up some pretty
What does Readiness & Resilience mean for our partnering communities during COVID-19?
It means having the advanced preparation and resources to handle any scenario that the outbreak leads to. That’s why we’re currently building a Readiness & Resilience Fund.
This investment will allow us to:
Do everything possible to keep the virus out of our villages – This means adapting our programs to function in spite of temporary travel restrictions, and getting accurate information out to our community members. We’re making sure as much of our work as possible can continue with new social distancing measures implemented.
Respond to critical needs if they arise – Of course we hope to succeed at avoiding outbreaks, but if something occurs out of our control, we have the networks and partnerships in place to help our communities get the most appropriate care possible.
Rebuild food and economic security quickly – Our partners are already feeling the effects of economic turmoil and food shortages. These are a result of the economic halt created by the lockdown. Plant With Purpose has tools that can help kickstart both income generation and food production in rural communities after a catastrophic event.
#120 Rhys’ First Swim
29 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
There have been a growing amount of protests against lockdown orders lately.
Even though I think that’s a pretty stupid thing to be doing, in some ways I can at least understand some of the feelings that are caught up in these expressions. The economic uncertainty. The frustration that this pandemic seems to be unending.
These feelings are valid. The way they’re expressing them is dangerous and dumb.
Headlines make it seem like these protests are everywhere, but really, an extremely high percentage of people support continuing lockdown. It’s the perfect example of a vocal minority getting disproportionate coverage.
I wonder if sometimes our media’s storytellers are simply bored with the story we’ve been telling for weeks. Stay home. Save lives. People are looking for new questions, new conflicts, new sources of tension.
When I think of the time I had to spend weeks in South Africa, mostly confined to one room, I do remember feeling bored and daunted by the lack of things to do. Ultimately, that led to me doing some inner exploration and that led to the very best parts of my life in the years ahead.
But I had to push through the boredom.
I get the boredom and frustration going on right now, but I think the key to this experience actually being beneficial to us- both individually and as a society- calls us to sit in that stillness for longer than we’d like. It’s gonna be uncomfortable.
But if we don’t do it, we’ll be the ones who miss out.
#121 Six months of Rhys
30 April 2020 // Bakersfield, California
Happy half birthday Rhys! 🎉 You came to this world at a pretty wild time, no? It’s not always like this.
I hope that soon enough, we’ll be able to get back to all that good stuff we really enjoyed. Hiking with you in the backpack carrier. Taking sis to the dog park. Visiting Lola or your cousins Zara, Luke, and Simon. And then there’s all the stuff we had to put on hold. Your first trip. Meeting your Cousin Levi. That swamp tour we were gonna take.
In the meantime, slowing down to spend time with you has been the brightest spot in a crazy and chaotic time.
⌛️⏳⌛️
When you first showed up, I wanted time to suddenly expand and every day to pass as slowly as a year. This isn’t quite what I meant, but it’s what we’ve had.
This past month, I’ve loved watching you have fun in the pool for the first time. I love how much you like sweet potatoes, and I hope you come around to like avocado a bit more. 🍠 Maybe when you discover guac. 🥑 I love that you find Beignet hilarious.
These past six months have been the sweetest.