1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Where did this vision of bridging gaps come from? 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:07,640 Okay. 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:12,000 So, yeah, that's, so there's the vision. 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,000 The mission is the present current day thing. 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,440 And then there's the origin. 6 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:16,800 It's a little bit of my origin 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,000 and it's a little bit of my mission. 8 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,280 A little bit of my origin, as I've mentioned before, 9 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,640 is my mother and father, right? 10 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:24,480 Them staring. 11 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,600 I say it's one of the three great gifts my father gave me. 12 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:28,560 He gave me life. 13 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:29,800 He gave me my name. 14 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,180 And he gave me his story. 15 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,280 This book behind me, it's called the Goodbye Book. 16 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,040 Can't really see it. 17 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,520 And it was given to me by fifth graders and sixth graders 18 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:44,820 when they were graduating. 19 00:00:45,820 --> 00:00:50,820 And I used to share storytelling and writing with them. 20 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:52,720 And when I was leaving, 21 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,840 they presented this book while I was on the stage 22 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,960 and I was surrounded by a bunch of fifth graders in Penny. 23 00:00:57,960 --> 00:00:59,500 She said, turn to the last page, 24 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:01,120 turn to the last page. 25 00:01:02,860 --> 00:01:05,320 And you can't really see it, 26 00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:06,480 but the last page it says, 27 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,180 you of all people deserve a happy ending. 28 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:12,160 And I thought about that. 29 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:14,840 And I thought, do I? 30 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:15,760 And it wasn't doubt. 31 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,480 It was just critical thinking, curiosity, like, do I? 32 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:19,660 And I said, yeah. 33 00:01:19,660 --> 00:01:21,480 And how do you do that? 34 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,120 And it's still small voice said, you write it. 35 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:25,100 I'm a writer. 36 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,000 And I got choked up. 37 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,720 And then Penny said, are you crying? 38 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,120 To which all these fifth graders started hugging me. 39 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,720 So the whole idea is I'm bringing 40 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,160 these communication techniques to parents 41 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,720 so that they can connect with their preteens. 42 00:01:44,580 --> 00:01:45,920 I wanna stay in the game long enough 43 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:47,600 so that these fifth graders 44 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,780 can teach these same principles to their kids. 45 00:01:50,780 --> 00:01:52,980 Because the principles stay the same. 46 00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:54,600 This is all human development. 47 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:55,600 It's still the same. 48 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:00,600 That helps form some of my vision 49 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:01,640 of what I have for the future. 50 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:02,560 Yeah. 51 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:03,480 Thank you for sharing that. 52 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,160 You said a still small voice said it. 53 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,040 That statement, still small voice, 54 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,320 I've heard only a few places. 55 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,880 Why do you say still small voice? 56 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:14,840 Where did that come from for you? 57 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,060 Sure. 58 00:02:16,060 --> 00:02:19,740 I've always had a sincere relationship with the divine 59 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:22,580 in my prayer life growing up. 60 00:02:22,580 --> 00:02:26,180 I'm named after Marcus Aurelius. 61 00:02:26,180 --> 00:02:30,200 And I am a practicing stoic, 62 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,300 but one thing is to recognize greater power, 63 00:02:32,300 --> 00:02:33,740 higher forces and so on. 64 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,260 Even when I was shifting my religion 65 00:02:39,260 --> 00:02:42,380 or my understanding of what the divine was, 66 00:02:42,380 --> 00:02:44,940 there was always that connection of, 67 00:02:44,940 --> 00:02:47,740 yeah, there's something greater than me sustaining me, 68 00:02:47,740 --> 00:02:50,300 asking me to contribute back to something greater than me. 69 00:02:50,300 --> 00:02:52,020 And it doesn't have to yell. 70 00:02:52,020 --> 00:02:54,380 It doesn't have to hit you over the head. 71 00:02:54,380 --> 00:02:58,860 It's a voice that anywhere and everywhere 72 00:03:00,220 --> 00:03:02,780 you can just pause and turn inward and hear it. 73 00:03:04,860 --> 00:03:07,940 That's why it's a small voice. 74 00:03:07,940 --> 00:03:09,280 It's a still voice. 75 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:24,280 Yeah, that's what it is for me.