Brainjour

Justin Kerby

Thanks, Stan

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Stan Lee was a legend.

To anyone who thinks that their creativity can’t make a difference in the world – dive into his story. He’s created an entire universe of characters with unique stories, challenges, strengths, and flaws.

One of the things I appreciated most about his characters, without getting too nerdy, is the backstories of some of the Marvel villains. To create a great antagonist, I think it’s key to give them relatable characteristics – to make audiences feel like they could, given a similar set of circumstances, relate to the bad guy. If you’re asking questions like, “Is he really all bad?”, you’ve nailed a good antagonist in my opinion.

Take Magneto, for example, the antagonist of the X-Men comics. Magneto has an excellent back story that will leave you feeling for him. His family was born in the 1920s to a German-Jewish family, and he saw his mother, father, and sister executed by the Nazis. Later on in his story, Magneto consistently is influenced by the way humans treat mutants as second class citizens (something he saw from the Nazis during his childhood). Because of this influence, he rejects the possibility of human-mutant coexistence, and ultimately wishes to see mutants win a war against humans. The character’s early story has often been compared to Malcolm X.

Stan Lee was the master of telling stories that made us see multiple shades of characters. The good in bad, the bad in good, the weakness in strength and the strength in weakness. He was a creative genius, and he’ll be missed. The good news is he created something so brilliant, so extensive and beloved, that he’ll live on in his work forever.

As Stan often ended his articles:

Excelsior!

Little Hinges

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little hinges swing big doors

“Little hinges swing big doors” 

-W. Clement Stone

 

Small changes can lead to major success. If you’re setting goals and missing frequently, look at the system you have in place, and whether or not it’s helping you accomplish your goals. I always try to focus on the system and let the goals fall where they may. Goals are great for motivation – but ultimately it’s the system you have in place that’s going to garner results. Scott Adams has elaborated on this extensively and I’m a proponent of his assertions.

The swinging big door is the goal, the little hinges are the system. Focus on the hinges.

 

The Storm

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i am the storm

“Fate whispers to the warrior, ‘You cannot withstand the storm.’ The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’”

-Unknown

 

I first heard this quote from Tom Brady, the five-time Super Bowl champion. I think it’s the perfect little mantra to whisper back to yourself when you hear doubters, when you think about potential negative outcomes, or when you need some encouragement.

Remind yourself.

I am the storm. 

Time Suck

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is instagram healthy?

What does Instagram do for you? Unless you’re some sort of “influencer” getting paid to post, would you say it’s making your life better?

I like Instagram as a creative outlet, but I’m not sure browsing the app is a good use of my time.

Apple recently released a new feature in iOS called “screen time”. It tells you how long you stare at your phone (and at particular apps) every day. I was pretty shocked at how much time I was spending on social media, so I started evaluating my usage. A lot of my time was being spent on two platforms.

First: Twitter.

I spend 30 minutes a day on Twitter, and while I do get some value from the platform in the form of news discovery and professional development (mostly by building relationships with others in my industry), 30 minutes is too much. I can accomplish what I need to on Twitter in 5 minutes a day – so no more perusing upon waking in the morning for me.

Second: Instagram.

Again, I like posting photos to Instagram. I feel like it’s a good creative outlet – but I haven’t posted a photo in almost a month. This means that all the time I spent on the platform in the last month was looking at other peoples photos and videos. Not good. I’m consuming, not creating, and that’s not what I want for myself. As I really monitored how I was using the app, I came to the conclusion that my time is better spent elsewhere: learning and creating.

I’m really happy Apple released screen time. It’s been eye-opening for me. I’m only allowing myself to look at Instagram and Twitter once per day now. I’ve moved them to the last screen on my phone, and honestly, I’m not missing them. Five minutes a day on social media is plenty. I feel like I’ve read more, learned more, and gotten more done in the last week than I have in a long time.

 

Wouldn’t It Be Great If It Did?

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when breath becomes air on striving and suffering

I love Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s my favorite book.

I say that without hesitation.

I’ve reread Paulo Cohelo’s The Alchemist multiple times, love a good redemption story like Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, and can sit with anything from Steinbeck or Cormac McCarthy for days on end – but nothing comes close to Dr. Frankl’s memoir, for me.

The book demands introspection on every page. I get something new from it every time I open it, and it’s made me a better man for more reasons than I can count.

One of the main themes that runs throughout the book is man’s capacity for suffering – and our ability to change ourselves when we can’t change our circumstances. I’ve written about it in the past, but one of his most famous quotes from the book resonates greatly with me:

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how'”. 

Having been through hell and back, Dr. Frankl speaks from first-hand experience here. I try to remind myself of his wisdom as much as possible.

Recently, I read a memoir that shook me to my core in a similar way. When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi explores dying and suffering, and through that – how to live. It’s a heavy read, but in my opinion essential reading for all. Here’s a short trailer for the book featuring Paul.

I think you should read it. There’s a part in the book where Paul and his wife, Lucy, are discussing the possibility of having a child before his cancer would make that impossible. Lucy asks Paul, bluntly, if bringing a child into the world would make his dying that much harder. In her words, she says, “Don’t you think saying goodbye to your child will make your death more painful?”

His response, I think, says a lot about how we should live our lives:

“Wouldn’t it be great if it did?”

Life is not about avoiding suffering.

It’s not about finding a place where you can stay comfortable, quiet, and painless. It’s about striving, as Paul says. Darwin and Nietzche agree: the defining characteristic of the organism is striving. Pushing onward. If you’re not striving – you’re not living.

As Nietzche said, “To live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering”.

Strive to find your meaning. That’s living.

Rest in peace Paul, and thank you for your amazing gift to the world.