{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":0.0,"endTime":3.44,"body":"The nothing that ultimately destroyed Fantasia?"},{"startTime":3.44,"endTime":6.84,"body":"It's the emptiness that's left when life tests us,"},{"startTime":6.84,"endTime":9.84,"body":"tries us, batters us, and bloodies us"},{"startTime":9.84,"endTime":12.82,"body":"as we try our best to make our way in the world."},{"startTime":12.82,"endTime":17.24,"body":"It is the undoing that happens when life pulls us apart."},{"startTime":17.24,"endTime":18.64,"body":"But you'll have to watch the rest of the movie"},{"startTime":18.64,"endTime":20.88,"body":"if you don't recall what's next,"},{"startTime":20.88,"endTime":23.76,"body":"because after Fantasia is obliterated,"},{"startTime":23.76,"endTime":25.96,"body":"there's still more to the story."},{"startTime":25.96,"endTime":28.0,"body":"Not only is it never-ending,"},{"startTime":28.0,"endTime":31.0,"body":"it is undone."},{"startTime":31.0,"endTime":45.0,"body":"It is Word to the Third,"},{"startTime":45.0,"endTime":47.0,"body":"my reflections on purpose, life, and growth."},{"startTime":47.0,"endTime":52.0,"body":"I'm Toby Brooks, a speaker, author, professor, and forever student."},{"startTime":52.0,"endTime":56.08,"body":"Each week on Becoming Undone, I bring you guests who've dared bravely, risked mightily,"},{"startTime":56.08,"endTime":57.52,"body":"and grown relentlessly."},{"startTime":57.52,"endTime":61.2,"body":"High achievers who've transformed from falling apart to falling into place."},{"startTime":61.2,"endTime":67.4,"body":"But every third episode or so, it's my turn to reflect, refine, and reprocess onward to"},{"startTime":67.4,"endTime":68.4,"body":"the third."},{"startTime":68.4,"endTime":76.84,"body":"Earlier this week, I dropped episode 69, the first half of my reflections on the 1984 classic The Never-Ending Story."},{"startTime":76.84,"endTime":81.48,"body":"Honestly, I never really intended for it to be a two-parter, but once I started"},{"startTime":81.48,"endTime":85.32,"body":"unpacking the hidden meanings of not just what the creators had wedged in, but"},{"startTime":85.32,"endTime":89.04,"body":"also how the lifetime that has elapsed between the time I first saw it at nine"},{"startTime":89.04,"endTime":93.68,"body":"until now has changed and influenced the way I felt, I started to get a little"},{"startTime":93.68,"endTime":102.56,"body":"long-winded. So I decided to split it in half. And ever the people pleaser, I didn't want to leave the huge crowd of folks waiting who'd"},{"startTime":102.56,"endTime":106.48,"body":"listened to the first episode and knew that their Christmas was just going to be ruined if they"},{"startTime":106.48,"endTime":112.56,"body":"didn't hear the rest of my take. I kid, seriously, I felt like I needed to finish this one up while"},{"startTime":112.56,"endTime":119.6,"body":"the emotions were still fresh. Last we checked, our main character Bastion is still stashed away"},{"startTime":119.6,"endTime":126.04,"body":"school's dusty attic with a half-eaten PB\u0026J, a blanket covered in allergens, and several"},{"startTime":126.04,"endTime":130.68,"body":"lit candles that are a nudge away from burning the whole place down."},{"startTime":130.68,"endTime":136.74,"body":"But in our story within the story, brave hero Atreyu is still grieving the loss of his beloved"},{"startTime":136.74,"endTime":142.76,"body":"horse Artax, but he's thankful to have been rescued from the swamps of sadness by my personal"},{"startTime":142.76,"endTime":147.48,"body":"favorite Falkor the Luck Dragon."},{"startTime":147.48,"endTime":149.64,"body":"The Nothing rages on."},{"startTime":149.64,"endTime":155.28,"body":"Atreyu happens into a pair of gnomes, the kindly old Professor Ingewook and his wife,"},{"startTime":155.28,"endTime":157.52,"body":"near the Southern Oracle."},{"startTime":157.52,"endTime":162.28,"body":"Here's where our story starts to become a little Legend of Zelda-like, and the quest"},{"startTime":162.28,"endTime":163.68,"body":"gets a little tricky."},{"startTime":163.68,"endTime":168.84,"body":"Atreyu has to successfully navigate a series of gates and challenges before he can hopefully"},{"startTime":168.84,"endTime":173.02,"body":"meet the Oracle and figure out how to defeat the nothing."},{"startTime":173.02,"endTime":177.22,"body":"The first challenge is to successfully pass through the Sphinx gate."},{"startTime":177.22,"endTime":181.66,"body":"Now as I said last episode, I've never been one to instinctively know what a"},{"startTime":181.66,"endTime":184.18,"body":"poem or a story represents."},{"startTime":184.18,"endTime":188.1,"body":"I'm still not sure what the Sphinxes represent here."},{"startTime":188.1,"endTime":192.3,"body":"What nine-year-old me could have told you without a doubt"},{"startTime":192.3,"endTime":205.0,"body":"was that the Sphinxes were topless, and today's me wonders why on earth did the creators feel the need to make anatomically correct D-cups for Sphinx portrayal in a kids movie."},{"startTime":205.0,"endTime":207.0,"body":"It's a little creepy."},{"startTime":207.0,"endTime":216.0,"body":"But anyway, the professor shows Atreyu the gate and teaches him a few things, after we watch a brave knight get eye-lasered into oblivion."},{"startTime":216.0,"endTime":218.56,"body":"Why?"},{"startTime":218.56,"endTime":227.12,"body":"The Sphinx's eyes stay closed until someone who does not feel his own worth tries to pass by."},{"startTime":227.12,"endTime":233.84,"body":"Here comes one that looks fancy."},{"startTime":233.84,"endTime":242.48,"body":"Let's see what he really thinks of himself."},{"startTime":242.48,"endTime":244.0,"body":"Look, look."},{"startTime":244.0,"endTime":246.0,"body":"He's going on."},{"startTime":246.0,"endTime":248.0,"body":"I think he's going to make it."},{"startTime":248.0,"endTime":250.0,"body":"The Sphinx's eyes,"},{"startTime":250.0,"endTime":252.0,"body":"are they open or shut?"},{"startTime":252.0,"endTime":254.0,"body":"They're shut."},{"startTime":254.0,"endTime":255.0,"body":"Over here."},{"startTime":255.0,"endTime":257.0,"body":"No, wait!"},{"startTime":257.0,"endTime":259.0,"body":"The eyes are open!"},{"startTime":259.0,"endTime":261.0,"body":"Oh, no!"},{"startTime":261.0,"endTime":263.0,"body":"No!"},{"startTime":263.0,"endTime":264.0,"body":"Ah!"},{"startTime":264.0,"endTime":266.0,"body":"Did he make it?"},{"startTime":266.0,"endTime":268.0,"body":"Did he?"},{"startTime":268.0,"endTime":270.0,"body":"No."},{"startTime":270.0,"endTime":273.0,"body":"Fancy armor doesn't help."},{"startTime":273.0,"endTime":296.3,"body":"The sphinxes can see straight into your heart. Now to recap, Atreyu is wide-eyed and full of wonder and along with his best"},{"startTime":296.3,"endTime":301.08,"body":"friend he sets out on this quest where they find nothing in the Silver Mountains, the"},{"startTime":301.08,"endTime":306.46,"body":"Desert of Shattered Hopes, or the Crystal Towers. He loses that friend and nearly dies"},{"startTime":306.46,"endTime":317.2,"body":"himself in the swamps of sadness. Now he's emerged and he's faced with his next critical challenge."},{"startTime":317.2,"endTime":320.58,"body":"Now the night we saw Die looked like he had it all together."},{"startTime":320.58,"endTime":324.28,"body":"He had a beautiful horse, his armor was pristine and polished."},{"startTime":324.28,"endTime":329.24,"body":"To the outside world, he was a him as I pound my chest."},{"startTime":329.24,"endTime":334.16,"body":"This guy looked like a hero, he moved like a hero, he approached the challenge like a"},{"startTime":334.16,"endTime":335.16,"body":"hero."},{"startTime":335.16,"endTime":342.0,"body":"But when the Sphinxes looked through that outward appearance and saw into his heart, they saw the truth."},{"startTime":342.0,"endTime":351.0,"body":"Even though we never hear the knight utter a word, we can tell that what he said didn't match what he believed."},{"startTime":351.0,"endTime":357.0,"body":"The past few weeks I've heard multiple guests talk about imposter syndrome."},{"startTime":357.0,"endTime":364.68,"body":"My doctoral work was focused on interviewing teachers to hear what they believed about teaching and then watching them in the classroom"},{"startTime":364.68,"endTime":368.32,"body":"to see if those espoused beliefs actually showed up."},{"startTime":368.32,"endTime":372.28,"body":"Sometimes they did, but most of the time they didn't."},{"startTime":372.28,"endTime":378.0,"body":"I can't speak for you, but I have a cherished, valued, well-maintained set of armor that"},{"startTime":378.0,"endTime":382.4,"body":"I keep, and I'd be happy to show it to you if you want to see it."},{"startTime":382.4,"endTime":386.2,"body":"It's what lie beneath it that I'm most protective of."},{"startTime":386.2,"endTime":390.5,"body":"Inkybook says that destruction only comes at the first gate"},{"startTime":390.5,"endTime":395.66,"body":"if someone who doesn't feel their own worth tries to pass."},{"startTime":395.66,"endTime":400.16,"body":"And that's when it hit me, that maybe I have it all wrong."},{"startTime":400.16,"endTime":405.0,"body":"Instead of polishing my armor, maybe I should be nourishing my body."},{"startTime":405.0,"endTime":413.54,"body":"Instead of grooming my trusty stallion, maybe I should be plowing my heart. Maybe instead of raising a brightly colored banner for all the sea"},{"startTime":413.54,"endTime":420.54,"body":"or drawing a shiny flashy sword, I should be focused instead on things of substance."},{"startTime":420.54,"endTime":424.8,"body":"I don't want you to think that I'm the best professor you've ever had, or the most thought-provoking"},{"startTime":424.8,"endTime":438.96,"body":"podcaster you've ever heard, or the most gripping author you've ever read. I want to be those things. To put in the work and to know that I've done and I am doing the hard things in"},{"startTime":438.96,"endTime":445.12,"body":"order to earn the right to have confidence in that fact. It isn't hubris we should seek."},{"startTime":445.12,"endTime":452.56,"body":"It is quiet, grounded, hard-earned humility. Atreyu manages to get through the gates."},{"startTime":452.56,"endTime":460.28,"body":"Barely. Apparently he knows that he's on this quest to save his world because people trust him"},{"startTime":460.28,"endTime":462.44,"body":"and they believe in his bravery."},{"startTime":462.44,"endTime":467.28,"body":"And so, like life, once we make it through the biggest challenge we've ever encountered,"},{"startTime":467.28,"endTime":471.48,"body":"it isn't long until life tests us again in a new way."},{"startTime":471.48,"endTime":474.48,"body":"The next test is the magic mirror gate."},{"startTime":474.48,"endTime":478.28,"body":"Next is the magic mirror gate!"},{"startTime":478.28,"endTime":482.12,"body":"Atreyo has to face his true self!"},{"startTime":482.12,"endTime":488.32,"body":"So what? That won't be too hard for him. That's what everyone thinks."},{"startTime":488.32,"endTime":495.68,"body":"But kind people find that they are cruel. Brave men discover that they are really cowards."},{"startTime":495.68,"endTime":501.68,"body":"Confronted with their true selves, most men run away screaming."},{"startTime":501.68,"endTime":508.08,"body":"Atreyu makes it through after seeing Bastion in the mirror."},{"startTime":508.08,"endTime":510.24,"body":"He didn't run away screaming."},{"startTime":510.24,"endTime":514.64,"body":"He might not have understood what or who he saw, but he was cool with it."},{"startTime":514.64,"endTime":520.12,"body":"I feel like the magic mirror gate would be easy, even exciting, for young me to encounter."},{"startTime":520.12,"endTime":526.12,"body":"But for older me, I get why it could be so terrifying."},{"startTime":526.12,"endTime":533.52,"body":"If the Sphinx gate could look into our hearts and see the best version of ourselves that we ourselves are maybe too timid to believe,"},{"startTime":533.52,"endTime":540.52,"body":"then the magic mirror gate is just the opposite, peering in to see the selfishness, the greed,"},{"startTime":540.52,"endTime":547.52,"body":"the pettiness that is no less me too. I'm glad I'm not on this quest, because no obstacle"},{"startTime":547.52,"endTime":556.92,"body":"seems quite as humbling and potentially devastating to me at this moment, than a sobering confrontation with all the"},{"startTime":556.92,"endTime":560.44,"body":"worst parts of who I've become."},{"startTime":560.44,"endTime":563.54,"body":"So Atreyu makes it through the magic mirror gate."},{"startTime":563.54,"endTime":568.04,"body":"And here's where 9-year-old me was a thousand percent lost from this point on."},{"startTime":568.04,"endTime":569.68,"body":"I didn't get it."},{"startTime":569.68,"endTime":575.8,"body":"But having lived my life, and reading a few summaries online, for all of life's triumphs"},{"startTime":575.8,"endTime":581.26,"body":"and tribulations, for all the great things and the awful, I think I understand it now."},{"startTime":581.26,"endTime":586.28,"body":"He meets the Southern Oracle, which sidebar, is really just the same two big boobed sphinxes"},{"startTime":586.28,"endTime":592.68,"body":"splashed with blue stage lights instead of gold, but I digress. Atreyu gets his needed"},{"startTime":592.68,"endTime":599.68,"body":"intel, and he and Falcor flee as once again, the nothing moves in and consumes the Oracle."},{"startTime":599.68,"endTime":607.0,"body":"And then this happens."},{"startTime":607.0,"endTime":612.32,"body":"The Sea of Possibilities. I feel like we should have spent some time here before"},{"startTime":612.32,"endTime":615.02,"body":"having to traipse through that desert of shattered hopes,"},{"startTime":615.02,"endTime":619.08,"body":"but whatever. Why could they go no further?"},{"startTime":619.08,"endTime":622.32,"body":"My daughter Brynn can help me out on this one."},{"startTime":622.32,"endTime":627.32,"body":"Life for Brynn, especially in high school, was like the menu at Sonic."},{"startTime":627.32,"endTime":634.32,"body":"Just overwhelming. There's too many choices. I don't like going there because it's just too hard."},{"startTime":634.32,"endTime":641.32,"body":"We told our daughter from the day she was born that she could be anything and do anything if she only tried."},{"startTime":641.32,"endTime":651.84,"body":"In retrospect, unrestrained possibilities without guidance and direction, without boundaries of some"},{"startTime":651.84,"endTime":659.04,"body":"sort, can be not just scary but even crippling. As she's matured she still"},{"startTime":659.04,"endTime":663.88,"body":"recognizes that she can frequently succumb to paralysis by analysis. She's"},{"startTime":663.88,"endTime":668.08,"body":"learned to zero in on what matters most and to not give peripheral possibilities"},{"startTime":668.08,"endTime":676.68,"body":"her energy. Compare that to my son Tay. This kid was raised in the same house by the same parents and until two years ago went"},{"startTime":676.68,"endTime":678.56,"body":"to the same school."},{"startTime":678.56,"endTime":684.64,"body":"He has applied and been accepted into precisely one college, his first choice."},{"startTime":684.64,"endTime":689.32,"body":"He's narrowing his major, but I truly believe he knows in his heart where he plans to be,"},{"startTime":689.32,"endTime":692.98,"body":"what he plans to be doing, and how he intends to get there already."},{"startTime":692.98,"endTime":701.6,"body":"He isn't scared by possibilities, because I think he's wise beyond his years and his ability to discern at a glance what's truly possible and what"},{"startTime":701.6,"endTime":705.2,"body":"might instead just be a diversion."},{"startTime":705.2,"endTime":710.6,"body":"My friend Neil Kennedy, who I intend to get on the show in 2024, is a former pastor and"},{"startTime":710.6,"endTime":711.84,"body":"an accomplished author."},{"startTime":711.84,"endTime":718.0,"body":"He used to work as a coal miner, but eventually he answered the calling on his life to ministry."},{"startTime":718.0,"endTime":725.8,"body":"Neil says that no matter how sparkly or wonderful an opportunity is, if it doesn't align with your purpose, it's a distraction."},{"startTime":725.8,"endTime":730.52,"body":"There's a bit of an aside that happens next as Atreyu speaks with another of my"},{"startTime":730.52,"endTime":735.76,"body":"favorites in the film, The Rockbiter. And I could unpack this in an entire episode."},{"startTime":735.76,"endTime":740.92,"body":"But the Rockbiter is grieving because the Nothing managed to rip away his"},{"startTime":740.92,"endTime":750.38,"body":"friends. He tried his best to hold them tightly. He's this huge strong fella made out of granite. They don't come tougher than"},{"startTime":750.38,"endTime":757.64,"body":"a dude literally made out of stone. It's heartbreaking to see him lament his own weakness and regret"},{"startTime":757.64,"endTime":762.04,"body":"not being strong enough to save his world and those he cares about."},{"startTime":762.04,"endTime":771.04,"body":"I always thought that's what they were."},{"startTime":771.04,"endTime":776.04,"body":"Oh, my little friends."},{"startTime":776.04,"endTime":780.04,"body":"I couldn't hold on to them."},{"startTime":780.04,"endTime":787.04,"body":"The nothing pulled them right out of my hands."},{"startTime":787.04,"endTime":790.04,"body":"I failed."},{"startTime":790.04,"endTime":802.68,"body":"At the film's climax, Atreyu meets up with the nothings, vice president of destruction,"},{"startTime":802.68,"endTime":808.36,"body":"G'mork. A fairly poor attempt at an animatronic wolf worthy of a spot at Chobus Pizza with"},{"startTime":808.36,"endTime":812.6,"body":"Billy Bob and the rest of the band. G'mork spills the tea that serves to fill in any"},{"startTime":812.6,"endTime":813.6,"body":"slow like I was."},{"startTime":813.6,"endTime":814.6,"body":"Or I am."},{"startTime":814.6,"endTime":815.6,"body":"But why, Fantasia, are you dying then?"},{"startTime":815.6,"endTime":816.6,"body":"Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams."},{"startTime":816.6,"endTime":817.6,"body":"So the nothing grows stronger."},{"startTime":817.6,"endTime":818.6,"body":"What is the nothing?"},{"startTime":818.6,"endTime":819.6,"body":"It's the emptiness that's left."},{"startTime":819.6,"endTime":820.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":820.6,"endTime":821.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":821.6,"endTime":822.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":822.6,"endTime":823.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":823.6,"endTime":824.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":824.6,"endTime":825.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":825.6,"endTime":826.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":826.6,"endTime":827.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":827.6,"endTime":828.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":828.6,"endTime":829.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":829.6,"endTime":830.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":830.6,"endTime":831.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":831.6,"endTime":832.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":832.6,"endTime":833.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":833.6,"endTime":834.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":834.6,"endTime":835.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":835.6,"endTime":836.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":836.6,"endTime":837.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":837.6,"endTime":838.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":838.6,"endTime":839.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":839.6,"endTime":840.6,"body":"It is like a despair, destroying this world."},{"startTime":840.6,"endTime":842.0,"body":"It is like a despair"},{"startTime":842.0,"endTime":847.64,"body":"Destroying this world and I have been trying to help it"},{"startTime":847.64,"endTime":853.28,"body":"Because people who have no hopes are easy to control"},{"startTime":853.28,"endTime":856.12,"body":"And whoever has the control"},{"startTime":856.12,"endTime":866.0,"body":"Has the power."},{"startTime":866.0,"endTime":870.4,"body":"So that's it."},{"startTime":870.4,"endTime":873.92,"body":"The nothing that ultimately destroyed Fantasia."},{"startTime":873.92,"endTime":880.12,"body":"It's the emptiness that's left when life tests us, tries us, batters us, and bloodies us"},{"startTime":880.12,"endTime":883.24,"body":"as we try our best to make our way in the world."},{"startTime":883.24,"endTime":887.8,"body":"It is the undoing that happens when life pulls us apart."},{"startTime":887.8,"endTime":892.96,"body":"But you'll have to watch the rest of the movie if you don't recall what's next, because after"},{"startTime":892.96,"endTime":897.62,"body":"Fantasia is obliterated, there's still more to the story."},{"startTime":897.62,"endTime":901.84,"body":"Not only is it never-ending, it is undone."},{"startTime":901.84,"endTime":914.72,"body":"Well, that wraps up another week."},{"startTime":914.72,"endTime":915.72,"body":"What about you?"},{"startTime":915.72,"endTime":917.28,"body":"What are you working on or waiting for?"},{"startTime":917.28,"endTime":919.88,"body":"What are you doing in the meantime to get better every day?"},{"startTime":919.88,"endTime":922.84,"body":"I'd love to help and I'd love to hear about it."},{"startTime":922.84,"endTime":926.04,"body":"Surf on over to undonepodcast.com and drop me a note."},{"startTime":926.04,"endTime":929.36,"body":"For more info on today's episode, be sure to check it out on the web."},{"startTime":929.36,"endTime":934.06,"body":"Simply go to undonepodcast.com backslash EP 71 to see the notes, links,"},{"startTime":934.06,"endTime":936.4,"body":"and images related to today's show."},{"startTime":936.4,"endTime":940.9,"body":"I'm Toby Brooks, and this has been Word to the Third."},{"startTime":940.9,"endTime":944.4,"body":"Becoming Undone is a NitroHype Creative Production written and produced by me,"},{"startTime":944.4,"endTime":945.54,"body":"Toby Brooks."},{"startTime":945.54,"endTime":948.74,"body":"If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share"},{"startTime":948.74,"endTime":965.5,"body":"for Becoming Undone, contact me at undone podcast.com. Follow the show"},{"startTime":965.5,"endTime":970.9,"body":"on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at becoming undone pod and follow me at Toby J Brooks."},{"startTime":970.9,"endTime":977.26,"body":"Listen, subscribe, and leave me a review at Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get"},{"startTime":977.26,"endTime":987.26,"body":"so"},{"startTime":987.26,"endTime":1003.26,"body":"I'm."},{"startTime":1003.26,"endTime":1017.06,"body":"Bye!"}]}