Well Rounded People

This isolation time has given me great opportunity to re-focus on all the things in life that matter. And it does feel great to dump some dead weight.

If you've ever felt obligated to do something or deal with someone or whatever, this is the stuff that builds up in the back of your mind that grows resentment. A lot of times the thing that festers is usually the thing you dwell on. In this quiet serenity of learning and self-awareness, it's been good to re-evaluate old friendships from the past and reconnect. These are the people that keep you grounded.
In the entertainment field, loyalty goes as far as what the person can do for you. For the most part, I've matured past it. Grown tired of constantly doling out opinions that fall on deaf ears. Like it matters actually. What I miss are the real people who talk like human beings. People out here talk in blurbs because they don't possess any more depth than that. Because they're "movers and shakers" No one spends the time to talk like real people. This attitude is grating, to be perfectly honest, and happy to dump it. Because our society is rampant with it as it is.

What really hit me was when, on my last trip to Cincinnati, I visited my best friend's house and she has teenage children now, and is a professional, and we chatted...like human beings. The people I've surrounded myself with seem to only talk about movies. Nothing about life. And movies should be a reflection of life, not the opposite. I have to really keep an eye on myself when it comes to falling too far down that road. Because, if you consider your friendships out here, what other things do you REALLY have in common if it isn't talking about films or film business?

Many people out here have shuttered great relationships over the fact that they knew nothing but talking about movies. They have no other sense or ability to dissect a conversation...or listen. Sure, it's a quick shorthand to know how experienced the person is, but it still feels like a constant swinging dick contest where you're always presenting your resume. And incidentally, most people don't do their research anyway.

Isn't it funny, if you work in the movie business, when you run into someone who isn't, how foreign they seem?
And I'm guilty of it. And must learn to be grounded to honest real salt of the Earth people.
Have some interest in other things and other people. I, luckily, see a bunch of my filmmaking friends travel and do things other than make movies. Well rounded people tell better stories.