It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well. But when they’re not, this is when we have to decide to employ thankfulness as the rope that will pull us out of a pit. It’s a decision not based on how we feel but instead, a pivot towards where we should go even if our feelings don’t line up.
Saying goodbye for now…
We had to say goodbye—for now—to a beloved member of our family, Tinkerbell. Our sweet Tink was diagnosed with kidney failure a year ago and fought for every moment of her life before that. Five years earlier, she had been diagnosed with Ataxia, a neurological condition that affects coordination.
We were told she wouldn’t make it past a year, but she defied the odds and kept going. Even after suffering two strokes, she refused to give up.
Tink was the first dog I ever gifted to our daughter as a surprise, and she was there to watch our daughter grow up—from the grade school all the way through college.
This was a soul-crushing loss but we are grateful for the many years she gave us. We love you, Puppy Tink. In the midst of this, we had some other things to be thankful for.
Film short: Homeless
It was such a blessing to find that the script for Homeless was honored with the #1 spot in the fantasy shorts category on The Red List. This was totally unexpected since it was not something I entered as a contest. Likewise, it made the shortlist for Barnstorm Media’s yearly selection.
If you haven’t read the logline for Homeless, here it is below:
In a city plagued by forgotten promises, an otherworldly stranger has eight hours to find refuge for one of its forsaken or be condemned to an unwanted fate on Earth.
Feature Film: The Book of Jon: A Blade of Saints & Angels
This full-length version also made Barnstorm Media’s short list for feature scripts.
Here’s the logline for The Book of Jon: A Blade of Saints & Angels
In a dystopian city, an angel-turned-human and a former special ops soldier must rescue his sister and stop sinister experiments on the homeless before an order of Watchers eradicates humanity and drives the human race to extinction.
Voiceovers and Small Beginnings
I believe in the value of small beginnings. This past week, I had a meeting with a local recording artist who had worked with the same record label I was with. Although it was a cordial meeting, the cost of recording a voiceover with him was simply out of my budget. So, I reached out to my friend Mike Halsey, President Emeritus of Magnetic Dreams Animation Studios, for advice.
He gave me some great tips on setting up a home studio, and I ended up creating one in my closet. With all the clothes surrounding me, it turned out to be the perfect place to start small.
I was using an old mic for Zoom calls, but I quickly realized I needed to upgrade to a Shure MV7X to eliminate the background hissing. After a whole day of troubleshooting, it was such a relief to finally pinpoint the issue. The upgrade worked like a charm! My next step is to upgrade my computer and get a portable vocal booth for absolute quiet. But still, I’m incredibly grateful for what I have right now.
Final Thoughts
Losing Tinkerbell hit me harder than I thought it would. But it also came a short time after having to move my mom into a nursing home so one thing compounded the other. But in the midst of the pain, I was reminded of a simple practice. It involved slowly shifting focus from whatever is going wrong to whatever is going right. I’m not suggesting ignoring the pain or burying it. Studies show that the neuropathways in our brain are shaped by the things we consistently focus on, reinforcing certain thought patterns and behaviors over time.
We do tend to spend a lot of bandwidth focused on the failures, betrayals, disappointments, offenses – things that we had hoped to go one way and went another. It’s during those uncertainties that I’m reminded to shift my focus to “whatever is true, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” – even if it’s one baby step at a time…and to be thankful for those things.
I’m thankful for you.
Chat soon!
~L
